It's all in the pitch and timing... While it does help to develop a personal relationship with your press contacts, the angle of the pitch and its timing are key elements to getting your story published.
1. For television, don't contact the reporter, contact the particular producer for either the morning, noon, evening, or late night news. Be prepared to stay up late or get up early if you need to talk to them on the phone!
2. For print, it's all about the angle and fitting it into what the reporter needs. If he/she needs to fill space with a pretty photo, make sure you have a digital photo ready. Make sure the topic of the press release is part of his/her beat.
3. For radio (depending on the size of the market), find out when the on air talent has time they need to fill. The likelihood of a radio remote (for free) or on air editorial is fairly unlikely unless they are off script a great deal.
Keep in mind that all members of the media (except print that is monthly, quarterly, etc) are on a perpetual deadline. Always be prepared for that 4:30 follow up phone call for the 5:00 news. And the line "Mr. White had not returned our calls by the time of production" means that you were probably on the other line or in the bathroom. Don't get defensive--it's the nature of the beast of an industry that is quickly being reformatted by Twitter, Facebook, and the internet in general.
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