Advice for civil society organisations on getting your story in the news from the newsmakers themselves. We talk to Mark Perrow, Projects editor and his colleagues at the BBC.

What do you think makes a good news story for television?
There must be a strong central idea, but the quality of the pictures, the element of surprise, and relevance to the audience are also essential. Always remember that Television is first and last a visual medium, so what you can show to illustrate your story is crucial. It's also got to be new, true and interesting. Then it has to be well told, with a careful structure and great writing. Television news packages work best when they tell a story through one individual or group, but make a more general point through their story. If you are wondering what will work for television ask your self first - what would the viewer see?

Who do I send my story to at the BBC?
We have a team within our main newsroom who are responsible for user-generated content - monitoring, gathering, verifying and distributing stories and material (pictures, videos etc.) from our audience to programmes and our various TV, radio and online outlets.

There are several different ways members of the public can send BBC News stories or material - by email, SMS/MMS, directly from our website, via our smartphone application or via social media.

Find out more

We also add links to relevant online story pages each day which allow users to send us comments on those particular topics where we are keen to gather reaction, opinion or news updates from the public.

If you are keen to contact a particular subject area or individual who reports on your area of interest for BBC News, you could also look to see if they have a social media presence on Twitter where you could contact them directly.

And indeed using your own websites or social media spaces to drive engagement in what you are doing is another potentially good way to draw attention to a story or issue you are keen to promote.

How can I get my news onto a radio programme?
As explained above, the central team collating any information or content we receive from the public will be distributed as appropriate to all BBC News outlets, including radio programmes.

So in terms of submitting a story for BBC News, the options above are the easiest and best way to do so.

However if someone wants to contact a particular radio programme, it may be possible to contribute on the phone if the programme is holding a live discussion, or via e-mail and Twitter/Facebook accounts if the programme/station has and publicises the relevant account addresses and details on air.

On the iphone, there is a send us your story – who does it go to?
The 'Send Us' your story/image buttons on our smartphone applications direct content straight through to the same places which our central team is already monitoring for content coming into us via any other e-mail, text or online route.

What news event has drawn the highest number of viewers to the BBC?
Audiences come to BBC News for a very wide range of stories, choosing from our different platforms and programmes depending on their age and interests. But broadly, our biggest audiences this year so far have been for the calling of the General Election by Gordon Brown, the heavy snow falls at the start of the year, the volcanic ash disruption and the Haiti earthquake. In addition to the way people normally access our news, audiences come to the BBC especially for big events and at moments of national change or crisis to access the most up to date informatio