Almost every company we’ve ever worked with walked in with some version of the same problem.
The story they wanted to tell and the story a journalist would actually write were… not the same story.
The Attention Gap is the distance between the story a company wants to tell and the story a reporter would actually write. Companies communicate from the inside out. People pay attention from the outside in. The gap is everything in between.
What it looks like
From the inside, the news is the product, the funding, the new hire, the milestone. And those things matter enormously to the company! A reporter is asking a totally different question: why would my readers care about this today?
One of our clients, a heritage workwear brand, is a perfect example. The natural story from the inside was craftsmanship and product innovation. Great story… for the brand.
The story reporters wanted was bigger. Skilled trades were having a resurgence, a new generation of workers was coming in, and more of them were women. When we tied the brand to that shift, The Wall Street Journal wrote about how clothing for the trades was having a moment.
The craftsmanship was still in the story. It just wasn’t the headline.
Five signs you have one
- Your announcement starts with your company name
- You can’t say who outside your industry would care, or why
- The best line in your press release is a quote from your own CEO
- You’ve pitched the same news to a lot of reporters and heard… crickets
- The coverage you do get is your release, rewritten, on a trade site
How we close it
We start from the reader and work backward. Who is this story actually about? What’s changing for them? What do they already believe that this news challenges?
Then we run the answer through our MINUTES framework -- the seven reasons people pay attention -- and look for the version of the story that clearly triggers at least one.
Sometimes the gap is tiny, and it’s just a matter of leading with a different fact. Sometimes the company’s news is really proof for a bigger story that’s already happening, the way those boots were proof for the trades. Either way, the company still gets credit. It just gets there through the reader’s door instead of its own.
Fastest test I know: ask someone outside your company to read your announcement and tell you, in one sentence, why it matters. If they can’t? You have an Attention Gap.
Want a second set of eyes on your next announcement? Book a call with us. We’ll tell you exactly what we’d dig for.
FAQ
What is the Attention Gap in PR?
The Attention Gap is Notably’s term for the distance between the story a company wants to tell and the story a reporter would actually write. Companies tend to communicate from the inside out, while readers pay attention from the outside in.
Why isn’t my company news getting press coverage?
Usually because it’s written from the company’s point of view instead of the reader’s. If the announcement leads with the company, the product or the funding, and doesn’t say who outside the industry should care and why, reporters have no story to write. That distance is the Attention Gap.
How do you close the Attention Gap?
Start from the reader. Ask who the story is really about, what’s changing for them, and what belief it challenges. Then find the version of the news that triggers at least one clear reason to pay attention, such as identity, urgency or tension, and lead with that.
How can I tell if my announcement has an Attention Gap?
Ask someone outside your company to read it and explain in one sentence why it matters. If they can’t, or if your best line is a quote from your own CEO, you likely have an Attention Gap.