25th Anniversary Kit >> Media [doc][pdf] >> How to Make a Media List [doc][pdf]
How to Make a Media List
Before you can send out your press releases and pitch your story, you need a list of media contacts. Here are some tips:
(Credit & thanks for these materials go to Celia Alario, the staff of the Spin Project, Fenton Communications, Ripple Strategies, and voice coach Vicki Post. All material is ‘Copy Left’ or ‘Creative Commons,’ so feel free to share, but please credit these folks!)
- Do your homework! – Research what publications are in your area, what their affiliations are, and how stories are assigned there. Try to find out who is the environmental reporter, who is the business reporter, etc. Find out the deadlines for each issue, how they most prefer to be contacted, etc.
- Design for your goals and target audience – Think about who will be reading this, who you want to read it, and what you want them to get out of it.
- Design for the time you have – Make the best use of your limited time.
- Design for the kind of world we want to live in – Don’t just go for the big media outlets. Support independent media, too.
- Collect emails and phone numbers – Make sure to get the names of relevant reporters, plus their phone numbers and email addresses if you can.
- Tenacity gets the goods – Don’t give up easily!
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