A couple of weeks ago I learned about a guy named Peter Shankman who publishes requests from reporters to his list of subscribers a couple of times a day. His list is called Help a Reporter Out and he gets good stuff.
If you're looking for opportunities to be interviewed for media stories, you want to subscribe to this list. Warning: you will get 2-3 emails per day from Peter. And that's a good thing.
Peter has refined his emails so 1) the subject of each query is near the top of the email so you can quickly scan to see if there is anything you need to pursue, 2) the full request with details and reporter contact info follows. He's also got a good sense of humor and usually leads the email with a funny comment or observation.
I read Help a Report Out emails as soon as they hit my email box because media inquiries usually require a quick response. They don't take long to scan and you may hit the jackpot. You can't lose. It's free to subscribe.
Glad you like the Peter Shankman leads, Denise.
A valuable tip for your own readers: If responding to a journalist directly, don't bother him or her by pitching story ideas that aren't related to their specific queries. That's a no-no.
Also, a way to build valuable relationships with journalists is to suggest other sources they might interview to round out the story. It saves them time and it positions you as a helpful source.
Posted by: Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound | Wednesday, April 09, 2008 at 05:09 PM