Community Newswire is a joint initiative between the Press Association and Media Trust, funded by the Cabinet Office. It is a free news service for charities, voluntary organisations and community groups across England. It is designed to provide valuable media coverage for minimal outlay in both monetary terms and man-hours, both of which are generally in short supply for such groups.
Community Newswire realises that many smaller groups may have little or no experience of working with the media and may be unsure of what information will be of most interest to the press and how best to present it. Some groups will be wary of contacting the press, whether through inexperience or because of previous bad experiences. Many may have found their previous approaches have been seemingly ignored and some may feel that previous stories have been misrepresented, others will not even have got that far, fearing discrimination or sensationalisation.
The aim of the Community Newswire is to help such groups tell their story in a positive way and build long-lasting beneficial relationships with the press. In this way community and voluntary groups, who currently have little contact with the media, can make their voices heard.
The dedicated Press Association editorial team receives press releases and general information from charities and community groups via email or using the upload facility on the Community Newswire website. And, as a good picture gives a story more chance of being used, especially by the regional press, there is also a facility to send pictures.
Journalists then use this as a starting point to prepare a news story, seeking out extra information as and when required. The finished article is published on both the Community Newswire website and on the Press Association news wire. The news wire is available to thousands of journalists across the country, substantially increasing the reach of small charities and voluntary organisations.
Subscribers to the Press Association news wire include national and regional, daily and weekly newspapers, TV and radio broadcasters, magazines, periodicals and contract publishers and digital platforms such as websites, open space TV and mobile phone operators.
