The key to opening media doors and landing that coveted press is knowing which door to knock on in the first place.

The #1 reason journalists reject pitches is that the pitch isn’t relevant to them. In other words, you’ve knocked at the wrong door!

You can pay good money for a media database subscription, only to have to turn around and double check the list it gave you. Or you can save money and make the list yourself.

Building a media list manually is an essential skill for anyone working in PR. So if you’ve never built one before, let’s make a media list together.

A good media list starts with research. But before you begin your research, you’ll want to know your campaign goals. Your goals will shape the types of publications you want to target. Not sure what your goals are? Dive deeper on aligning goals with media lists in this article.

Now we start with the basics to find publications, articles and journalists. Find out who covers your beat and which medium (Digital, Print, TV, Newsletter, Podcast, Radio, etc) is right for your story.

If you are a local business, start with your city→county→state publications. Look for local business publications, local lifestyle outlets, newspapers, and any trade publications in your industry.

💫 Pro Tip: Local publications are usually actively seeking community stories, so if you have one share it!

If you want more of a wide reach start with news outlets or other sites and see if they are relevant to your brand. Easy way to know: Ask yourself if your customers would spend time on that site. If they would, then add it to your list.

You can look for specific outlets, or you can search for articles written about your topic or a similar one. This method gives you not only a journalist’s name, but also an outlet that might not already be on your radar.

When you find a journalist that may be a fit, don’t stop there. Read their bio and recent articles to confirm that they cover the industry or story types you want to pitch.

Let’s say you want to investigate a journalist named Joe Lutrario of restuarantonline.co.uk a little further. Try searching: site:restuarantonline.co.uk Joe Lutrario
You can see what they write about and if still active on the site, to better determine if they are a good match.

Once you find a good fit, clicking on their name will often lead you to their bio and contact information. If that doesn’t work, search the site directly for their name. If you still can’t find an email address, check X or LinkedIn, since journalists sometimes list contact details in their social profiles.

Many publications have an ‘About Us’ page where you can find the staff directory.

Here is another email address finding hack if the other methods didn’t work. Try this search: site:website.com + “name” + email (or contact)

💫 Pro Tip: Find journalists with personal ties to your cause or have done stories in support of your type of work.

Reality Check: Sorry to break it to you but media lists can become outdated in just a few weeks or months! So before each campaign you need to check any list you have used before for accuracy.

Relevancy is the key. Do the research now and you’ll see it pay off in the end.

Do this now: Make or update a media list for local media or your specific area of business. If you have a unique story coming up, get a separate media list ready for that.

Learn from others.

A recent speech has gained a lot of attention. But for the wrong reason.

UCF commencement speaker, Gloria Caulfield, gets booed over singing AI praises, calling it the next industrial revolution.

When giving a speech you want to know your audience, otherwise it can quickly become a train wreck. As one Redittor wrote “A group who are not just likely to fear LLMs stealing not just their jobs and stealing their own work to do it, but to be morally and philosophically horrified by the very presence and prevalence of this technology.”

Because the purpose of a commencement speech is to uplift and inspire new graduates, the speech should do exactly that. This one landed like a lead balloon.

✍️ Key PR Takeaway: If you’re giving a speech do your research. Who will be in the audience? What are their likes and dislikes? What topics should you avoid? Adjust your language, your visuals, even your clothing to make them feel comfortable.

Protect your reputation by doing the very basics.

Useful PR Resources.

List IQ is an AI-powered tool for building hyper-targeted media lists from a Google News search. And it’s not expensive.

I preach all the time that having an accurate media list is so important when pitching the media. BuzzStream List IQ helps you accomplish this. Easily and affordably

Why I loved it:

How it works:

Start by downloading the Chrome extension in your browser. Open up Google News and search for your topic (i.e. “ny fashion week). Select all of the information that you want ListIQ to find and start adding any relevant URLs to your list. Then click “Generate Sheet,” and you’ll get a Google Sheet or CSV file with a media list. Easy peasy.

Thanks List IQ - you just saved me hours of tedious work by building a media list.

Gucci and Enzo, perhaps the most spoiled pups in Florida, love soaking up the Florida sunshine and helping their dad explore the beaches of Florida. Gucci, a 13-year-old Poodle, Havanese, Bichon and Terrier mix, may be older but still has plenty of play left in her – and a big appetite, especially when it comes to her brother’s breakfast.

Enzo was rescued from the streets of Los Angeles. He’s well over 12 years old and is also playful. It’s a good thing he’s not interested in his breakfast because Gucci has already helped herself.

If you’re ever in the market for a home in St. Pete or the Tampa Bay area, their dad Angelo will be more than happy to show you around, and if you’re lucky enough, maybe you’ll get some attention from Gucci and Enzo.

Did anyone see the Devil Wears Prada 2? I love it when movies talk about journalism and PR. But I like the fashion even more!

Until next week, keep your shades on and stay cool.

Your fellow Seeker,
Keren

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