Wed, 17 Jul 2002 -- Media Matters No. 11:
Creating and maintaining your media list

You've crafted your news release. Now you must be sure it gets to the people who will use it to report on your issue. Sending your release to the wrong people almost ensures it will end up in the trash.

The simplest way to be sure your news gets to people who will find it newsworthy is to learn who covers your issues. Reading the national newspapers and newsmagazines, listening to TV and radio news shows will alert you to reporters who cover the issues similar to your project's topics, i.e, science, education, employment, mental health.. Write down their names. Pay attention to how they cover stories. Over time, you will begin to learn what seems to interest them. BEGIN BUILDING YOUR LIST OF MEDIA CONTACTS BEFORE you've written your first news release. Your list should include reporters at the local newspaper, television and radio news outlets; editorial page editors, assignment editors. Don't forget college media outlets as well. If your project is national in scope, your media list should include national news outlets, including the major national newspapers and news magazines, broadcast news, CNN and NPR. News services like the Associated Press, Knight-Ridder, Reuters and States News Service -- also called "wire services" -- are news outlets that transmit their stories to subscriber news outlets nationwide (or worldwide). Most newspapers, for example, use stories from the Associated Press. Be sure to put news services on your media list -- your city or town will have a local wire service outlet -- usually housed at the main media outlet in your community, such as your daily paper.

NEXT, GET ACCURATE INFORMATION: The best way is to phone the media outlet. You donŐt necessarily need to speak with each reporter; others can give you information regarding some specific contacts. Be sure to ask for the correct spellings of first and last names. You'll need a phone number, a fax number, an email address (if the reporter takes news releases via email), an accurate mailing address (some news outlets get mail through P.O. Boxes, for example), and notes as to the "beat" the reporter covers.

KEEP YOUR LIST UPDATED: Media outlets often have high turnover rates. The reporter who covered your last story may no longer be there -- or may not work the same beat. Using your list, call each outlet before sending a news release to ensure your contact information is still accurate.

For more on creating media lists, go to http://www.spinproject.org/resources/medialists/creating.php3

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