Who to approach in the media

It's all well and good suggesting that you contact people in the media

directly - but what do the titles mean?

We are often asked by our clients and customers who they should contact

within a media organisation, so we thought we would give you a quick run

down! Here is an overview of the roles and titles you may come across, and

who to approach to pitch a story.

Newspapers

If you are contacting a newspaper with a news story, you should go to the

news desk or the Chief of Staff, whose role it is to allocate stories to

the journalists for following up. However if you have a nifty product or

service, you may want to contact the Editor of a particular weekend

magazine or supplement. If you know a journalist on a newspaper works in a

particular section you want to target, you can also contact the journalist

directly. They will have to get the green light from the Editor or

Sub-Editor to progress the story so will pitch it on your behalf.

Magazines

Most magazines have an Editor who overseas all the 'story' or editorial

sections. Then there are specific Editors for the different sections such

as the Fashion Editor, the Features Editor (who writes more in-depth or

'feature' stories), The Beauty or Sports Editor etc. There is often an

Editorial Co-ordinator as well. The person in this role receives the

incoming emails and presents them to the Editor and/or journalists. They

control the email traffic and can be a very good ally to have!

Radio

When pitching a story to radio you need to contact the Producer of a

specific show. They will normally collate all the requests and discuss them

with the presenters before getting back to you. Another approach for some

radio stations is to offer them something to give away to their listeners.

This would normally be something you would discuss with the Marketing or

Promotions department on the bigger stations and the Station Manager for

smaller and regional stations.

TV

The Holy Grail! There are a number of people you can pitch a TV story to,

depending on the show. If it is a news story or a photo opportunity then go

to the Newsroom and pitch it to the Chief of Staff for that day. For a

light entertainment/chat show you can either go to the Executive Producer

(who manages the entire show) or one of the Segment Producers (in the case

of morning TV or early evening Current Affairs shows). You can also go to

the Segment Producer for product reviews and potentially, giveaways. Most

TV stations also have a Promotions department who will be looking for

prizes for a variety of shows. They are always happy to hear from people

but would normally be looking for prizes with a $2,000-$30,000 retail

value.

Don't go to...

The advertising department! You may find that an Editor or journalist has

passed your details on to the advertising department. They will then

contact you and ask for you to buy an ad. If your story is of genuine

interest, the Editor will cover it regardless. Advertising has nothing to

do with Editorial and the two are not linked in any way. Advertorial is

when you basically pay for an 'editorial style' ad. it is NOT PR which is

free. Be warned!