About local newspapers
Successful local newspapers reflect their area in a super-local way no other media can match. Even big city dailies which splash "council corruption" on the front page, still devote pages to really minor parish council news from small villages, or the latest fishing results. They do this because the closer a newspaper is to its community, the more successful it is.
Yes yes yes, big exciting front page stories and free gifts sell newspapers, but it's by putting the community at its heart that it maintains its readership base. If the community loves fishing, it's fishing they get.
Understand this to use it to your advantage. Your local paper will not publish your story, no matter how good it is, unless there's a genuine local slant to it.