Member of
In the PR world, the media is your lifeline and a crucial vehicle in communicating your story to the masses. Hence, you must maintain a good relationship with journalists from a variety of publications and broadcast outlets. However, there are too many media contacts out there to keep track of them all without a comprehensive list.
Your media list will essentially be your go-to document whenever you need to contact the press, be it for press release distribution, to invite media to a press conference or to pitch a story for a feature article, it is therefore essential to make sure that it is as thorough and up-to-date as possible. Consider the following factors when putting together a media list.
There is a plethora of magazine titles in every market, and it’s up to you to short-list which of these your news is relevant to, to ensure that you are reaching your target audience. For example, it is highly unlikely that a women’s lifestyle magazine is going to cover an agricultural story so don’t waste your time and theirs by sending them unrelated news. The same rule applies to daily newspapers and broadcast media, by going through their issues or keeping an eye on their programming schedule you can determine whether your story would fit into the general news, business, sports or lifestyle sections and identify which programmes your client would be best suited to appear in.
Most daily newspapers have generic e-mails for their business, news and sports desks. Do not take these for granted and depend on them in the hope that your press releases will get picked up. These addresses, although great as an added security, receive hundreds of press releases and invitations every day, making it very easy for your story to get overlooked. Go the extra mile, identify the journalists covering a beat relevant to your industry and make contact with them. This will help to establish you as a point of contact for them too, and they will refer back to you when they are covering a story where they could use a comment from your client.
By this, I’m referring to online portals, especially the web editions of daily newspapers. It’s easy to assume that if you send a piece to the business desk of a newspaper, you don’t need to worry about the online editor. However, this isn’t entirely true. While a story published in print will likely appear online, the reverse isn’t always the case, and you might even have a better chance of getting coverage online. So, be sure to send your release to both. It’s also helpful to include the contact details of online editors in your media list, allowing you to quickly reach them if you need to correct any misreported information.
Along with basic information and contact details like the publication name, journalist’s name, job title, phone number (preferably mobile), publication language, program title, and airing time, be sure to note the publication’s frequency. Determine in advance whether it’s daily, weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly, and when the program airs. This helps you plan the timing of your releases and create informed PR strategies for your clients. Where possible, take note of when magazines close their pages, as this indicates when journalists are busiest. It’s always best to give them space during deadline week since you’re unlikely to get their full attention at that time!
Lastly, don’t forget that your media list is a living document that will never be finalised and should therefore be regularly updated. You will undoubtedly come across a host of new press contacts at events, through telephone and e-mail correspondence. If you’re lucky, once you’ve established your client as a key player in their respective industry, journalists will even seek you out themselves. It is important for your media list to stay current and to always reflect these changes; so set aside some time once every couple of months to check in with your regular contacts, and do some maintenance work on your media list.
If not, you need to establish which of their colleagues is a better contact.
Sometimes, sending a press release early in the day might not be the best thing to do, as, by the time the reporter reaches their desk, your email will be at the bottom of their inbox. Some media representatives work during the weekend and take time off during the week – this information is also handy to know.
It is best not to contact journalists or send them anything close to their deadlines, as they will be busy closing their pages and won’t have time to entertain your requests. It is important to establish the recurring deadlines of any reporter on your media list so that you avoid sending them material on or close to this date.
Knowing a journalist’s special areas of interest can help when pitching a particular story, as it shows that you are on the same wavelength as them. You will increase the chance of your piece being taken up if you can demonstrate that you are tuned into their niche concerns.
Obtaining insight from your co-workers will help you break the ice quickly with the journalists. It can assist you in getting to know their habits, which will in turn make it easier to communicate with them.
You can get to know a great deal about a person from their social media pages. Through LinkedIn and Twitter, you can develop an insight into the journalist’s preferences, mindset and ideology.