Twittering with the Media
posted by Dan SkinnerWednesday, April 1st, 2009
Last month I had an opportunity to serve as a panelist at the Publicity Club of Chicago’s monthly luncheon where the topic was “Updating Your Social Media Toolkit.” Beyond using social media to build programs for clients, I raised the point that social media has created new ways for public relations practitioners to interact with journalists. The rising popularity of Twitter has made it a preferred tool of many journalists to the point where we now have comprehensive directories of journalists on Twitter.
The first rule of pitching a reporter is to gather information on the journalist before you send out your pitch. While reading their stories will always be the best way to do this, Twitter gives you a snapshot into a reporter’s interests, since you can follow the people they’re following. Sounds a bit creepy, but it could offer some valuable insights. And rather than fighting through the clutter of e-mail, many journalists are using Twitter as a streamlined way to communicate with sources. As this medium evolves, the relationship between PR pros and journalists many evolve with as well.
