Get Featured in Sun Herald

Being local does not make Sun Herald easy to get into. A community newsroom has limited reporters and limited hours, so stories about businesses, practices and organizations often wait behind news that has to run today. A guaranteed placement removes that uncertainty: the piece is arranged with the publication in advance, you approve the draft, and it publishes on sunherald.com inside a written window, usually three to five days. It is a real article on the site that you can put in a proposal, a deck or a profile.

What Sun Herald covers

Readers in Mississippi have plenty of national and international news to choose from. Sun Herald does a different job. Local news publications concentrate on a defined area and report what is going on inside it, from civic affairs and the local economy to community events, schools, sports and the arts. The common thread is place: each story matters to someone nearby.

Local reporting treats a community as a set of people and places with names. In that setting, an opening, an expansion, an award, a new hire, a charity drive or a new service is news, provided it is told with facts. Owners, professionals, nonprofits, event organizers and creative people with a local tie are all familiar subjects of this kind of coverage.

Who reads Sun Herald

The readership of a local news publication is concentrated where the publication is. For Sun Herald, that is a community in Mississippi. Its readers include longtime residents, families, local employers and employees, community leaders and neighbors who follow local affairs. They read with attention because the news concerns places they know and people they may have met.

If your customers are local, local news is the most direct press there is. Being featured in Sun Herald puts your name in front of people in your own market and gives you a news story to use in marketing, on your website and in conversations with prospects. For out-of-area companies, it signals a commitment to the community.

What local coverage in Mississippi does for you

A business that serves Mississippi benefits from being seen where people in Mississippi already get their news. A feature in Sun Herald places your name in front of nearby customers, suppliers and referral sources who can act on it without leaving the area. It also adds a local reference point for anyone in the state who researches you before making a call or signing an agreement.

Coverage in Mississippi is commonly sought by service businesses, restaurants, medical and legal practices, real estate professionals, contractors and nonprofits that depend on local customers. It also suits companies from other states that are opening an office, a store or a franchise location in Mississippi and want to introduce themselves to the community.

Out-of-area companies and longtime locals face the same test: is there a reason for people in this community to care? For a newcomer, it may be jobs, a new location or a service not offered nearby. For an established name, it may be growth, history or community work. Either way, specifics carry the story.

We start by choosing one of the angles below. Most businesses and practices have two or three that would work, and the best choice is usually the one with the clearest local connection and timing.

What weakens a pitch

• A national message with a town name added. Local readers can tell when a story was not written with their community in mind.
• Jargon. Industry terms that work in a trade magazine lose a general local audience, so plain language serves the story better.
• Overstated community ties. If the connection to the area is thin, say what is true and build the story on something else.
• Everything at once. A feature that tries to cover history, services, awards and future plans together leaves readers without a clear takeaway.