How to Get Featured in The Canberra Times

The Canberra Times is a daily newspaper with a working newsroom, and it should be approached the way you would approach any masthead of that kind: carefully, and with something real to say.

Here is an honest account of how coverage happens.

What The Canberra Times is

The Canberra Times is a long-established Australian daily newspaper serving Canberra and the surrounding region, publishing in print and online. It has its own journalists covering local news, politics, courts, business, property, sport and community life.

Because Canberra is the seat of federal government, its coverage sits unusually close to national politics and the public service alongside the ordinary business of a city newspaper. That gives its reporting a reach beyond the region.

There is no contributor programme and no self-publishing route. Editorial coverage is a newsroom decision, full stop.

Who realistically gets covered

Businesses, organisations and people whose activity affects the region: a significant local employer, a development, a court or regulatory outcome, a public-sector contract, a business opening or closing, a community initiative with real participation.

Expert voices also get used, particularly people who can explain something already in the news to a general readership on short notice.

What does not get covered is a company doing well. A masthead like this reports on events, decisions and consequences, not on success.

Why the local angle decides it

This is the part most pitches get wrong. A regional daily is accountable to its readers first, and the question every editor asks is what this means for people here.

So the same story can be publishable or worthless depending on framing. "We launched a product" is nothing. "We are hiring forty people in the ACT" or "this policy change is about to hit local operators in the following way" is a story a reporter can actually write.

If you cannot answer why a Canberra reader should care, the pitch is not ready, and no amount of polish will fix it.

What makes a story they will run

Consequence, evidence and people. Something has changed, you can prove it, and there is someone whose life or work is affected.

Give a reporter what they need to verify: names, dates, numbers, a person willing to be interviewed and photographed, and documents where they exist. Newsrooms are under time pressure, and a pitch that removes work is far more likely to be taken up.

Avoid the press-release voice entirely. Write the two sentences a reader would repeat to someone else, and lead with those.

Timing helps as well. A story tied to something already moving — a council decision, a court date, a budget, a seasonal pressure on local trade — is far easier to place than one arriving out of nowhere.

The realistic path

• Build a public record first. Journalists check whether you have said anything credible before, and coverage tends to follow coverage.
• Be a usable source. Reporters need commentary on running stories, often within hours. Answer fast and specifically.
• Earn the local relevance. A genuine presence, employment, partnership or investment in the region is what makes the story theirs to run.
• Accept the odds. Most pitches to a daily newsroom go unanswered. That is the normal outcome, not a verdict on your business.

What we do

Digital Networking Agency builds the story and the press record that makes a masthead like this reachable, and places clients consistently in publications where we can actually deliver.

We do not sell placements in staff-written newspapers, and we would be cautious of anyone who does. What we can do is develop the angle, prepare the material properly and pitch it — with the decision resting where it always rests, in the newsroom.

Frequently asked questions

Can you pay to appear in The Canberra Times?

Not for editorial coverage. Advertising and sponsored content are separate commercial products and are labelled as such on the page.

Do I need to be based in Canberra?

Not necessarily, but you need a genuine connection to the region — operations, staff, customers, an investment or a decision that affects people there.

Is a regional daily worth pursuing at all?

For the right story, yes. Coverage in an established newspaper carries a weight digital-only titles do not, and it is often quoted or followed elsewhere. For most businesses it is a harder target than a business or trade publication, and worth attempting only when the local angle is real.