If you are a local news reporter, then one thing you're probably always striving for is to grow your audience. Keeping up to date on the local news is so important, especially since many people are interested in getting involved in their community government and community events. However, drawing people's attention to the local news is not always as easy as you'd hope. Fortunately, here are some strategies to help you increase engagement and build your audience. 

Include more quotes and photographs.

Whenever possible, try to include direct quotes from local residents, along with captioned photos of local residents, in your reports. When people read a news article and see a quote from or a photo of someone they know, they will start to feel like the news involves them and is about them. This will keep them more interested in continuing to follow the news and encouraging others to do the same. Plus, the people who you quote will probably tell their friends and family members to check out the article where they're quoted. Some of these people will enjoy what they read and come back again to read more.

Make your face known locally.

Especially in smaller communities, people like to feel like their news is coming from someone they know. So, getting out into the community and interacting with people is a good way to increase your readership. Attend local events like community fairs, 5k races, and fundraisers. Talk to the people you meet there, and always introduce yourself as a news reporter. Before long, people will start to recognize you and seek out your work. You can even directly suggest people check out your work when you meet them at events.

Distribute the news in multiple formats.

These days, there's often the assumption that everyone gets their news on the internet. But this is not necessarily the case. Some older community members may still get their news in print. Others may watch television for the news. The more you can diversify your news formats, the larger your audience will grow. Even releasing a simple community newspaper once a week, or doing a TV broadcast once a week, can help.

The larger your audience, the better job you'll be able to do in distributing the local news. Try the strategies above, and remember to work with the rest of your news team. Chances are, they share your goal of expanding. For more information, contact a company like The Herald Dispatch.