How to submit a press release to local media (3 ways to do it)

Quick takeaways

Local coverage often out-converts national — the audience is smaller but tighter.
Journalists at local papers get 80–200 pitches a week and read maybe 20 of them.
The three routes: guaranteed local packages, direct outreach, and manual site pitches. Pick based on time vs. budget.

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National wires and Google News indexing get all the attention, but for a small business, a SaaS opening a regional office, or a founder with a hometown story, local media is where the real leverage lives. A single writeup in the Charlotte Observer or the Denver Post outperforms a syndicated national placement for foot traffic, hiring, and local SEO — every single time.

There are three ways to get there. Pick based on how much time you have versus how much budget.

Route 1 — Guaranteed local packages

The easiest path. Distribution wires that include regional and local outlets in their network will guarantee placement in specific metros for a flat fee. This is what you use when you don't have relationships and don't have time to build them.

Look for wires that:

Publish their actual local outlet list, not just "over 500 outlets nationwide."
Let you pick metros individually rather than forcing a national package.
Include Gannett or USA Today Network outlets, which reach hundreds of local dailies.

Our USA Today network placement at $60 is a strong entry point here — a single submission cascades across the Gannett local footprint where topically relevant. For metro-specific guarantees, Newswire and 24-7 Press Release also offer regional add-ons.

Route 2 — Direct journalist outreach

Higher ceiling, higher effort. You find the actual beat reporter at the actual paper and pitch them directly. This is how you land real, bylined coverage rather than a boilerplate wire pickup.

The workflow:

Find the right reporter. Go to the newspaper's website, click "About" or "Staff," and filter by beat. A tech story pitches to the tech reporter, not the general assignment desk.
Read three of their recent articles. This takes 15 minutes and transforms your pitch from spam into a conversation.
Email them directly. Not the tips@ inbox. Subject line: news hook + city. Body: 3 sentences, one link, one photo attached.
Attach the press release as context, not as the pitch. The pitch is the email. The release is the appendix.

For contact lookups without paying for a media database, Muck Rack and HARO (now Connectively) still work. LinkedIn is underrated — most beat reporters list their email in their profile.

Route 3 — Pitch local websites manually

The scrappy route, and often the fastest. Below the big-city dailies, every metro has a stack of independent local sites — hyperlocal blogs, business journals, chamber newsletters, community papers. They cover the news the daily won't touch, and they usually have a "submit news" form.

Where to find them:

Search "[your city] business news" and "[your city] blog"
Check your regional Chamber of Commerce site — they syndicate member news.
Look for Patch, Nextdoor, and neighborhood-level newsletters.
Every metro has a Business Journal (American City Business Journals) — they publish company milestones as short blurbs.

Submit through their form, then send a two-line follow-up email 48 hours later. About one in four responds; one in eight publishes something.

Pitching tips that get you covered

After a decade of working with local reporters, these are the moves that consistently move a pitch from "delete" to "reply":

Local angle first, company second. "Denver-based startup hires 40 engineers in Q3" beats "Acme announces expansion." Editors don't cover companies; they cover the city.
One name, one number, one date. A pitch with a real founder name, a real metric, and a real event beats an abstract one every time.
Offer the interview upfront. "Founder is in town this week and free for a 20-minute call" is a lever most PR emails forget to pull.
Attach one clean photo. Local papers need art. Sending a hero shot removes a friction point that kills a lot of otherwise-decent pitches.
Never mass-BCC. Every editor checks the To: field. A visible BCC list is a delete-on-sight signal.

Writing for a local audience

A press release aimed at local media should read differently from a national wire piece. Adjust three things:

Put the city in the headline. Not just the dateline. Local readers scan for their metro name; make it obvious.
Localize the numbers. Instead of "hired 40 engineers," say "hired 40 engineers, bringing the Denver office to 120." That's the number a local editor cares about.
Quote someone the community recognizes. A local executive, a local hire, a local partner. National spokespeople land flat with regional editors.

Combine one of these three routes with a solid, human-written release and you'll build a library of regional coverage that outperforms most national campaigns per dollar. Need a starting point? Your first release is free.

Frequently asked

Is local coverage worth the effort vs. national?+

For most businesses under $50M revenue, yes. Local backlinks rank well for regional search, and local coverage often converts customers at 5–10x the rate of a national piece.

Do local papers charge for coverage?+

Editorial coverage is free. Some regional outlets offer sponsored posts starting around $200–$500. Be transparent about which one you're pitching for.

How many local journalists should I pitch at once?+

Maximum three per outlet, and never at the same time. Space pitches by 48 hours if you want to try more than one desk.

Tony Glinn Verified author

Head of Distribution · Press Release Submit

Tony has spent the last eleven years inside newswire desks and comms teams — routing releases for public issuers, Series C rounds, and more crypto launches than he wants to admit. He writes the guides he wishes he'd had when he started.