News Releases

How to get your story into the Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle editorial staff receives hundreds of requests for stories and event announcements every day. Because space in the newspaper is limited, our editors must prioritize which items to include. Although we can never guarantee the inclusion of any item, we try to dedicate as much space as possible to newsworthy events in the community, in our printed product and on the Web at chron.com. Chron.com is also a portal through which members of the community can post information and photographs on various neighborhood and specificinterest pages, as well as read and participate in blogs with other readers and with Chronicle reporters. These are just some of the ways we can be a truly useful information source for Houstonians every day of the week.

The timeliness of information and its potential interest to the Chronicle’s broad readership are our editors’ major criteria in determining what to publish. Unusually interesting or significant news presented to the appropriate editor in a concise, complete format has the best chance of being included in the newspaper and on chron.com.

This guide can assist you in telling us about your news, event or story. It contains tips on how to present your information and where to send it. Working together, the Houston Chronicle and its readers can continue to serve the Houston community by providing the most complete, relevant and accurate news coverage available.

In the following pages, you'll find a list of topics and the editors who oversee them. Once you have scanned the topics and have determined the editor most appropriate for your news, address your information directly to that editor. Phone calls are accepted when time is a factor, but information received by fax, mail or e-mail is preferred.

Address:

Attn: ________________________ Editor
Houston Chronicle
P.O. Box 4260
Houston, Texas 77210-4260

Written news releases are the basic tools used to communicate to newspaper professionals. Timely releases that are newsworthy, accurate, clear, brief and direct have the best chance of being adapted for publication. We cannot promise that submissions will be published — some issues are more newsworthy or timely than others. However, if you don’t succeed with one news tip or story idea, try us again.

A news release should include all the major facts about your story, written in descending order of importance — the major facts at the top. Above all, make sure you have included the “five Ws and an H” — WHO is involved, WHAT is going on, WHEN (time and day) and WHERE it will happen, WHY it’s happening and HOW it will take place.

Your release should also contain the following elements:

Identification
The name and address of the sending organization should be plainly identified.

Contact
Give the name of the person who can supply more information if needed, and phone numbers where that person can be reached, both day and evening. Phone numbers are the most commonly missing element from press releases, which means the material cannot be listed in ZEST, Preview or the Saturday Star section.

Release date
Let the editor know if your information can be released as soon as it’s received, or if it should be held for a later date. The more flexible you are with release dates, the greater the likelihood it can be published.

Photos
Mailing or e-mailing a visually interesting photo with your news release is acceptable. All photos should include your name and contact information.

Photos can be either black-and-white or color — glossy finishes are preferred. Photos sent by e-mail should be at least 200 dpi in JPEG format.

A complete caption identifying the action and participants — from left to right, including first and last names, as well as business titles if relevant to the story — should be taped to the back of the photo or included in the e-mail. Photos are not returnable. Please include your name and contact information.

To report breaking news to the Photo department, please call 713-362-7445.

Note
If you plan to send your release to more than one Houston Chronicle editor, it is a good idea to let each one know where the other copies are being sent.