The Case for Good Publicity — Starting on Day 1

On the first day of school, it’s often the biggest district in the market that gets the back-to-school front page and TV coverage. New outlets tend to gravitate to the one with the most schools, the most students, the built-in audience. If you’re a leader in a smaller or mid-sized school, you already know this. It’s not exactly a shock. It’s just how local news tends to shake out.

But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck watching from the sidelines. A reporter putting together back-to-school coverage, or an editor looking for something a little different from the usual, is often happy to find a smaller school with a real story instead of one more shot of a big building on the first day. You’re not trying to out-muscle the biggest district in town for attention. You’re trying to offer something they can’t — something specific, local, and actually new.