-Develop relationships with the press. Inquire what the reporter is particularly interested in following within their news beats (responsibilities) or trends they are following to see where you might be able to contribute. Or offer up your own observations, on- or off-the-record.

If you know something is coming down the pike, offer a heads up. Reporters will be especially grateful when it's something to occur around the time of deadline. This little thoughtfulness would also make the reporter more likely to call on you as a source the next time they're working on a story.

Have drinks, dinner or coffee if feasible to build trust between both parties in a more relaxed environment.

-Sent us press releases but don't overdo it, and don't rely on them alone. Pick what's really important and go for quality over quantity. We see both at Credit Union Times. Sure, send news releases about your promotions and branch openings, but we literally get hundreds of those every week. Why is yours unique? Does your branch have a robotic greeter that offers coffee to members on the way in? Did you invent a new position for your credit union, like vice president of creativity?

Another nice little addition getter is to include high-resolution, digital color photos of the relevant officials or action shots from an actual event. Graphs and charts can help illustrate a point, such as the amount of net income your credit union makes from a certain program over each of the last five years or how the make up of your investment portfolio has changed.

-Target your media audience. Stories should be pitched differently to a trade publication than you would your local gazette. Both might be interested in your new deposit capture for members but for different reasons. Credit Union Times likes to inform our readers, primarily credit union executives and officials, vendors and consultants, of innovative ways other credit unions are serving their members while saving time and money. The gazette wants to let the community (potential members) know that your credit union is offering this nifty, new convenience and maybe even compare it to what your competitors are doing.

-Which brings me to another bullet point–don't expect to be the only source for a story. Talk to a reporter about the efforts your credit union is making to help families stay in their homes via refinancing or whatever creative products you come up with. The reporter may choose to feature your credit union or, probably more likely, use the information in a broader story about the housing market or credit availability.

-Know the terminology. Articles are news stories written by the publication staff, opinion pieces, or op-eds, are written by outside sources on some topic of interest. Additionally, publications typically reserve the right to edit opinion pieces for style, length or content, as does Credit Union Times. Confusing the two can lead to frustration for both you and the reporter.

-Don't shy away from commenting when there's bad news. The only way to get your side of the story into the media is to tell it. So your credit union lost a lot of money on subprime mortgages–explain how it happened from your perspective and how you're rectifying it. I believe that readers seeing "Mr. Smith declined to comment" often immediately assume the worst.

-And, most importantly: Tell the truth.

–Comments? E-mail [email protected]