How to Get Your Stories in Journalists’ Christmas Baskets This December
How to secure Christmas coverage this December
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Happy December everybody! Journalists in newsrooms across the land will now begin turning their minds to their Christmas baskets. These are the stories that are done and sorted weeks before they make their way into print or online. It’s the evergreen, less time sensitive content that fills the nations newspapers and websites while everyone is downing tools, stuffing their faces with camembert and getting merry.
The stories that make up this festive selection includes features, guides, opinion pieces, human-interest stories, year-in-review roundups, holiday recipes, travel advice, gift lists, cultural explainers... basically anything that won’t go stale while the newsroom is eating cheese, clinking glasses and enjoying a hard-earned break.
In short, Christmas baskets are the pre-packed hamper of dependable, low-urgency articles that keep the presses rolling.
Here are my top tips for comms pros trying to snag a cosy little spot in those Christmas baskets.
Journalists need pieces that won’t date over a two-week period. Newsrooms rely on content that can sit comfortably on the shelf without losing relevance. This means the pitch needs to work on either the 20 December or 3 January. Think steady, reliable topics such as advice, timeless human-interest pieces, how-tos, reflective features or broader trend stories that won’t be derailed by the week’s headlines.
Christmas can be a good hook but it isn’t essential. In the run-up to the big day, anything with a festive angle can be helpful. Make it clear if there is an urgency to your pitch. If there is, then once the clock strikes midnight on the 25th, the magic evaporates fast. Festive framing suddenly feels stale, and anything tied too tightly to Christmas loses its sparkle. If your story depends on tinsel and turkey to make sense, it needs to land before Santa heads back to the North Pole.
Start pitching for the Christmas baskets from early December. Some reporters may head off for annual leave sooner in December than others. The start of the month is the perfect time to get pitching.
Provide oven-ready content that doesn’t need a follow-up. This means full quotes, visual assets, any statistics with clear attribution, a spokesperson available before they clock off and case studies if relevant. Make sure any interviews are arranged sooner rather than later.
Ensure experts/case studies are available before they go on leave. Make sure everyone you’re offering (experts, spokespeople, case studies etc) are prepped, reachable and ready to talk before they clock off. It’s worth making sure a journalist can access these people the day before a story runs too, just in case there’s a sudden sub-editor query that needs to be answered. I’d suggest putting people in direct contact with each other.
Keep stories light, positive or reflective. This isn’t a dealbreaker but it’s been a long year and editors will sometimes be looking to give their audiences brighter, more upbeat stories (especially ahead of Christmas).
Be data-savvy. I love a data story for the festive basket. These can often stay fresher for longer and they’re easy to package as “evergreen”. A festive basket doesn’t need hard news but it does need credibility. Data gives a story weight while still allowing for light, seasonal or human-friendly framing.
Understand the “slow news” tone. Think about public service, not just publicity. I’m thinking practical advice such as money-saving, wellbeing or safety and helpful insights like trends, behaviour or data. Thoughtful explainers (why something matters this time of year) and charitable or community-focused stories also work well.
Repackage existing research into media-friendly insights. The festive period is a great moment to dust off research, reports or surveys that didn’t quite land earlier in the year. With fewer hard news stories competing for attention, the bar for what counts as “newsworthy” naturally lowers a little. That gives you a fresh opportunity to reframe older material into something snappier and clearer.
Offer “look ahead” predictions or expert forecasts. Industry trend reports, tech, retail, financial or or cultural outlooks and things like ‘what we’ll be talking about in 2026’ could all also work if packaged the right way.
Embargoes aren’t dealbreakers. It’s always best to work on Christmas basket stories as exclusives because one publication may choose to use the story to fill a gap when another doesn’t. But lots of organisations also put releases out under embargo too - these can also work week but it’s still worth sending over early so the journalists you usually work with can sort before possibly heading off on holiday.
Remember folks, keep this just between us! We’re off the record.
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