| Amanda Hicken 
As much as social media and mobile have disrupted our news viewing habits, many traditional media platforms still hold incredible value in shaping public perception. Broadcast media, in particular, continues to see audience growth. From the local nightly television broadcast to drive-time radio programming, millions are tuning in for the latest news. In their State of the News Media 2015 research, Pew Research Center noted that “local TV continues to capture broadcast viewers, with slight increases for evening (3%) and morning (2%) newscasts and larger ones for early morning and midday in 2014.” Meanwhile, network television news saw a second straight year of audience growth (5% in evening and 2% in morning), and online radio and podcasts continues to open up opportunities for audio journalism. Visual Storytelling at Its Finest For someone like Brett Simon (), director of audience relations at PR Newswire, it’s gratifying to witness broadcast media’s resilience as a powerful platform for public relations and marketing professionals to work with. Brett’s career has spanned both sides of the coin. After spending four years as a television reporter outside of Chicago, she joined PR Newswire. Over the past 19 years, she has worked with broadcast journalists and other members of the media and currently heads up the company’s audience relations team. “You can tell a story, but there's nothing like seeing a story,” she says about the value of broadcast media. “Whether it's something like a fire or seeing the look on a child's face after they receive a brand new laptop thanks to a donation — seeing and hearing the story makes a huge impact.” In a world of content overload, it’s easy for anyone to tweet a story and be done with it. However, a broadcast journalist has the ability to get more eyeballs and investment in a story by pulling people in with visual and audio cues. When a story is told right, audiences find themselves immersed within the action. “We're visual beings,” she continues. “The fact that print and all types of media are now using video and other visual components to help tell their story speaks to the importance of broadcast media, which has been doing it all along.” 
Capturing Broadcast's Exclusive Opportunities There’s also a sense of exclusivity that accompanies being featured in a news broadcast. Because there are set periods of time for a TV or radio broadcast, there are fewer chances for coverage of your organization’s news. There are a lot of other stories competing for very limited bandwidth and it’s easy to get bumped from a broadcast because of a breaking story deemed more newsworthy. “If your brand, product or client is making an impact in your community, you want to make sure you’re working with broadcast media and in the mix. There are limited opportunities, so it's a big deal if you're one of the ones to get on air,” says Brett. Earning broadcast coverage on one station can also multiply and lead to attention on a much larger scale. “All media outlets monitor other media, and a lot of network stories start out as a story that was originally covered by a regional or local market, but had a national angle.” Broadcasters Engaging Beyond the Broadcast Beyond geography, broadcast coverage of your brand can build to opportunities across multiple platforms as well. Although the marketing of news shows used to be left to a station’s promotions department, reporters now play a much more significant role in the promotion of their content. It’s a given that broadcast journalists have to now use social media throughout the day; however, a lot of anchors and correspondents are also embracing blogging as a way to bring in details they couldn’t fit into a broadcast. “When you're reporting a story, it might be a minute and 15 seconds, so you have a limited time period to report the story in a thorough and complete way,” Brett explains. “What blogging has allowed broadcasters to do is really dig into the story, reveal more details, and incorporate more insights.” Targeting broadcast news media with your organization’s story is a must. When it comes to writing a press release and pitching broadcast journalists, Brett advises asking yourself what visual and audio elements grab your attention when you're watching television news or listening to a radio news report. It’s also important to keep on top of which topics are being discussed across the airwaves so that you can proactively contribute to broadcasters’ and audiences’ conversations. Having access to a media monitoring tool that tracks and analyzes broadcast, social and other media is key. The right tool can provide you with intel on which journalists and influencers to target, emerging trends to leverage, and potential story ideas to pitch. Download our guide At What Cost? Justifying a Media Monitoring Service to see if you need to invest in a more robust tool to fulfill your brand monitoring needs. Amanda Hicken is PR Newswire's senior manager of strategic content. Follow her on Twitter @ADHicken for tweets about the media, marketing, Cleveland, and comic books. | 
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