Local Media List (Peoria example)

This resource is a supplement to the article, 4 Steps to Free Publicity.

This list took me about 45 minutes of thinking and Googling and Facebook searching to find a comprehensive list. But you can easily break the task up and just do one heading a day for about 5 to 10 minutes. Having a marketing background I’m definitely familiar with many local media outlets in my area, however some of the smaller ones are easy to miss. Look around the next time you’re in a doctors office, or any other business with a waiting room to see what’s out for people to browse.

Also don’t forget to ask your friends to help. A simple Facebook post asking for suggestions on shows, programs, or publications that might want to feature you can save you a lot of research time.

The point of this list is just to give you an example of what might be available in your town. Peoria, Illinois has a population of about 115,000 and a metro area (including surrounding towns) of about 375,000 for comparison.

Newspapers (don’t forget weekly or neighborhood specific ones too)

• Journal Star (Daily, subscription home delivery or purchased at stores)
• Community Word (Monthly, distributed free at local businesses)
• The Traveler Weekly
• The Labor Paper (union members)
• Bradley University Student Newspaper (College)
• Surrounding towns
  • East Peoria Times-Courier
  • Pekin Daily Times
  • Morton Times-News
  • Chillicothe Times-Bulletin
  • Woodford Times

TV stations (list all the news and talk programs done locally too if you can, morning, lunch, evening, late night news)

• WEEK-TV
  • 25 News Today (morning show)
  • 25 News Midday
  • 25 News at Noon
  • 25 News at 5 pm
  • 25 News at 6 pm
  • 25 News at 10 pm
• WHOI-TV
  • Heart of Illinois ABC Good Morning Illinois (morning show)
  • Heart of Illinois ABC at 5 pm
  • Heart of Illinois ABC at 5:30 pm
  • Heart of Illinois ABC at 10 pm
• WMBD-TV
  • WMBD News This Morning (morning show)
  • WMBD News at Noon
  • WMBD News at 4 pm
  • WMBD News at 5 pm
  • WMBD News at 6 pm
  • WMBD News at 10 pm

Talk radio stations (you can list other stations that might appeal to your audience with on-air local DJs too but that’s not as likely to get picked up)

• 1470 WMBD Radio (talk radio)
  • Greg and Dan
• WPNV-LP 106.3 FM, “Peoria’s Neighborhood Voice,” (various local programs)
• Rock, country, Christian, R&B, etc. music stations too. Most have morning shows, not usually interviews, but hosts talk about various things
• Breakfast With Roger & Friends

Public radio (such as a local NPR station)

• WCBU (NPR) local programing shows and news
  • Out and About
  • Local news

Public TV (such as a local PBS station)

• WTVP local shows
  • At Issue
  • Consider This
  • Illinois Adventure
  • State and Water

Local magazines (most are monthly publications)

• The Peorian
• InterBusiness Issues
• Art & Society
• Peoria Progress
• Several Neighborhood specific ones published by Best Version Media
• Chamber of commerce newsletters
• Healthy Cells

Independent shows, podcasts, and publications (often run by a single individual instead of a larger business)

• Mics Uncut
• PeoriaLife.com (has several shows)
• Explore Peoria