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View the video on the right for a quick overview of how Hometown Newsmaker works or read below for more in-depth instructions and ideas for getting the most out of Hometown Newsmaker.

What is a Hometowner?

Hometowners are news stories targeted to the reporters/editors covering hyperlocal news. They are news releases about people – not the program or institution sending the release. The Hometown Newsmaker uses postal codes to automatically deliver news stories to the newspapers covering your students’ hometowns.

There are two different types of readMedia hometowners: Group and Individual Hometowners


Group Hometowers:

Group hometowners are best used to distribute many hometown news stories at once. They combine a spreadsheet loaded with student details with a customized template to create unique press releases for every record in your spreadsheet.

Learn about the basic steps of creating and sending a hometown news story using a single story template and a spreadsheet with information about multiple students.
Information about what to include in your spreadsheet, how to properly label your column headings, and what file types are acceptable.
Learn how to format hometowner headlines and use placeholders in your story to pull custom information from your spreadsheet.

Don’t wait for dean’s list or commencement to get started. Here are some ideas for making news about your students today.


Individual Hometowers:

Individual hometowners are straight forward news releases about a select few students at a time. They do not require spreadsheets and templates and should be used when a student accomplishes something that sets them apart from their peers.

Learn the basic steps of creating and sending a hometown news story about one or two students at a time.
Don’t wait for dean’s list or commencement to get started. Here are some ideas for making news about your students today.


Hometowners on the web and in social media:

When you use Hometown Newsmaker to publish stories about your students, the technology creates a personalized news release for every student. In addition to sending a release to the student's local newspapers, it also publishes a copy on the web.

Including student or parent email addresses shares your stories with them and allows them to push news into their social networks.

How to format Hometowner Headlines
Create unique headlines that will get you noticed in newsrooms and online.