HelpAReporter.com connects journalists to sources
I’ve already Twittered, Facebooked, and del.icio.us-ed HelpAReporter.com, but Peter Shankman has put together a really helpful Web site that could use as much attention as possible.
The site is a listing of publicists and P.R. professionals that sign up to receive queries from journalists looking for sources. It’s a simple concept that started as a Facebook group, but eventually got too large (Facebook groups only let you mass message and e-mail 1,200 people). Here’s what Shankman has to say:
I built this list because a lot of my friends are reporters, and they call me all the time for sources. Rather than go through my contact lists each time, I figured I could push the requests out to people who actually have something to say.
These requests only come from reporters directly to me. I never take queries from that other service, I never SPAM, and I’m not going to do anything with your email other than send you these reporter requests when they arrive in my in-box. [...]
Next: This is really the only thing I ask: By joining this list, just promise me and yourself that you’ll ask yourself before you send a response: Is this response really on target? Is this response really going to help the journalist, or is this just a BS way for me to get my client in front of the reporter? If you have to think for more than three seconds, chances are, you shouldn’t send the response.
Shankman’s project has gotten a pretty good response so far, which is great. As he’s mentioned on his blog, The New York Times featured his site on their Shifting Careers page, Marketing Sherpa has a write-up and Ryan Sholin has a five-minute interview with Shankman about the project.
I signed up for the list, just because you never know when you can refer someone in the right direction. The hardest part of journalism is finding sources that will actually talk to you, especially when you have a very narrow topic that requires special knowledge and expertise.
If you’re in P.R., marketing, etc., then sign up, follow the simple rules and build up your “good karma.” And if you’re a journalist, be sure to use this as a resource. Why not tap the power of the crowd and reduce your time spent sourcing your stories.
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