JOURNALISTS, EMAIL AND THE INTERNET: WHY THESE THINGS ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU
Like to get into a journalist’s head and see how they source story ideas and get the latest news and information? A recent study by Econnect did exactly that and surveyed Australian journalists to get the goss on how they get the goss.
Not surprisingly, the survey found that over 95% of journalists had the internet at work, yet almost a third still had to use a centrally based computer to access emails. Of those that had the internet, the majority of respondents said they use the internet consistently (the highest rating) and over 90% had their own work email address.
How does all this information affect PR? Well it means information, story pitches and media releases have to be very specific and targeted to the right journalist and land directly in their inbox. Gone are the days of blast out, blanket media releases to generic fax numbers and email addresses.
It is also interesting to note that while websites are great for providing information, less than a fifth of journalists consistently use the web to source a story idea. However, almost two thirds of journalists will use the internet to research more, once they have decided on a specific story topic.
This leaves the biggest question of all…how do journalists continually come up with fresh story ideas…?
Over half of respondents said that they rely mainly on personal contacts for story ideas, closely followed by media releases (49.6%), which just proves that if you are media savvy you need to be in direct contact with the relevant journalists in your industry, or use a PR firm to foster that relationship for you.
A good article can come down to a simple conversation or pitch to a journalist because you or your PR representative is in constant communication with that journalist. The constant communication gives your story concept a higher chance of being researched more because you know the type of stories they tend to write and the best way to approach them about a story idea. From the survey it appears that more often than not, story ideas will be better pitched verbally or in an email instead of a media release, because the story concept can be tweaked to suit what the journalist is looking for.
- Use a PR company with proven results in your industry- it shows they have a personal relationship with industry relevant journalists.
- Nominate one media person in your organisation to deal with PR. The journalist or PR person will always know the best person to contact this way.
- When pitching a story concept to a journalist, be prepared to work with them and modify the concept if necessary. The story might not be exactly what you had in mind but the journalists usually know their target audience very well and are looking for stories that will sell that publication.
- Always try to find a direct email address for a specific journalist and address them in the email. Always include your contact details and refer to any attachments in the body of the email. Lastly keep emails and pitches as brief as possible.
