6 Steps to Become a Trusted Source for Journalists
OCTOBER 24, 2024
By: Scott Westcott
Journalists tend to view PR pros in three different buckets.
There’s the dreaded PR hack – the folks who flood reporters’ inboxes with wordy, impersonal press releases and pitches, followed by relentless and annoying follow up.
End result: Email blocked.
Then there’s the PR contact. This group includes pros who are more strategic and aware in their outreach. They send easy-to-read pitches, follow up with discretion, and ably handle interview logistics.
End result: Decent, but spotty success placing stories.
Finally, there’s the source.
Being known as a source means you’ve reached rarified air as a PR professional. It takes time to achieve this status and it only comes after you’ve built enough trust with a journalist for them to view you as a useful, reliable, and trusted partner who makes their jobs easier and their stories better.
End result: Consistent success that continues building over time.
As veteran USA Today reporter Deborah Berry recently told members of a PRSA national chapter:
“Some of the best stories I’ve worked on have been because I’ve had a relationship with a PR person. It pays to nurture that for both of us.”
It’s easy to understand why you want to become viewed as a source by as many journalists as possible.
But it’s not easy to reach this status.
It takes time, discipline, awareness, and tact. But if you get there, it will make your job easier and can turbocharge your success rate in getting prime placements.
It also makes your job a lot more fun.
Here are six steps to get there.
Identify your top targets
You achieve source status through quality, not quantity.
Your best bet is to focus on forging deep relationships with journalists who are most valuable to your employer or clients. Start by identifying a half dozen or so journalists covering topics you focus on in media outlets you’d love to land your stories. Become a student of their previous work, their backgrounds, and interests so you can learn what they care about and how they approach their reporting.
Don’t start with an ask.
Look for an opportunity to share some useful information with your targeted journalist.
Often, you can reach out after they’ve published an interesting story and you have an idea for a smart follow-up.
If you want to be a bit more direct, note a recent story and mention that you represent an organization that might have some interesting related angles in the future.
Make sure you take this step with awareness and the right timing. For instance, you should avoid hitting up a political reporter with an intro-type note a week before Election Day.
Share authentic praise.
Contrary to popular belief, journalists are people, too — and they share the universal trait of appreciating a sincere compliment.
That said, they also possess highly tuned BS meters. So, if you’re complimenting them on a story, explain what it was that resonated with you and why. If you do this consistently, but sparingly, they will take notice over time.
Be patient.
You wouldn’t go on a first date and kick off the conversation stating you want to be married within a year and have a kid on the way in two.
If you do? Well, chances are slim that you’ll make it to the second date.
Inundating a journalist with pitches, press releases, and exclamation-point laden notes isn’t the answer. Focus your outreach on sharing useful information, pitching your most timely relevant stories, and prompt yet strategic follow-up.
Come through when they need you.
When a journalist does bite on a story, make sure you are prompt, efficient, and organized. Make sure your clients are well prepped and on time for interviews. Follow up quickly with requests for more detailed information and further interviews.
If you happen to make a mistake in the process, fess up, find the fix, and apologize.
Say thank you.
You’d be amazed how often PR pros don’t follow up after a story is published. True, most journalists have long since moved on, but they also notice when you follow up with a thank you and a comment on what they liked about the story.
How do you know when you have achieved source status?
A pretty good sign is when one of your targeted journalists starts reaching out to you to include one of your clients in a story, ask for potential story ideas, or even run a potential angle by you.
If they need you as much as you need them, you are on your way!
