By: Charles Bowen MediaMap's Press Network Diversifies Your Sources
When I was a city editor, my first clue that a reporter had been
on the same beat too long was when I could predict what sources
he would quote before I read his copy.
Recycling your news sources is hard, though, particularly if your
newspaper is removed from those enormous metropolitan areas with
their diverse business and academic authorities.
But the World Wide Web can help. With clever searches and
filters, your reporters can extend their reach far beyond mere
geographic boundaries and call on experts from anywhere in the
world. And now new tools for journalists from a major site
devoted primarily to public relations make the hunt for quotable
experts even easier.
SourceNet lets you post a query to find quotes, opinions, product
news or general information on broad or niche topics. Your online
question is automatically distributed to literally thousands of
agencies and corporate and university public relations
professionals. And it is all anonymous; your personal contact
information is never sent to the PR people who respond to the
query.
The site -- free to professional journalists -- already has been
used by reporters with news organizations around the world,
including ABC News, The Associated Press, BBC, BusinessWeek,
Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Reuters, USA TODAY,
and The Wall Street Journal.
To use the resource, visit the site at http://www.MediaMap.com/Media,
where you will be asked to register with your name, e-mail
address, and professional affiliation. You also will be asked to
select a password for your account.
Since the services are reserved for working journalists,
producers, and editors of print, Web, and broadcast news outlets,
the site's "Press Network Team" needs to verify your credentials
before giving you access. However, the process does not take long
and shortly you will receive an e-mail confirming that you have
been granted admission.
Once authorized, you can work from a simple introductory page
that is topped with a data entry box labeled "Search Responses."
Use it to see if your question already has been posed by another
member and answered by the expert readers.
If not, a Post a Query link below the box enables you to create a
message of your own. An on-screen form prompts you for the
summary of the story you're working on, its angle and intended
audience, length and questions. You're also prompted for the date
by which you need responses, the medium for which you're writing
and its circulation. Your name is always cloaked to protect your
confidentially. You also can cloak the name of your news
organization, if you like.
PR professionals post private responses to your query through the
site, usually within 24 hours of your message. You are sent daily
e-mails summarizing the responses, which you can view at any
time. You can contact the respondents if and when you want.
SourceNet is among a suite of MediaMap products used in more than
a thousand public relations agencies and hundreds of corporate PR
departments. MediaMap, headquartered in Watertown, Mass., says
its products are deployed by 19 of the top 20 PR agencies in the
U.S., which represent some 30 percent of the nation's agencies.
Other free journalists' tools available through the MediaMap
site:
o MediaWatch. This is a weekly summary of media industry news
and a listing of personnel moves and changes at print, broadcast,
and Web news organizations.
o MyProfile. Use this feature to create, review, and edit a
MediaMap profile, which will be available to thousands of PR
professionals through the site's MediaMap Online directory.
o Useful Link. Sites here range from specific news organizations
to new and established search engines, all candidates for a
reporter or editor's collection of favorite places on the Web.
---
Bowen writes columns, articles and books from West Virginia, and is host of the daily Internet News syndicated radio show (http://www.netnewstoday.com).
charlesbowen@compuserve.com
Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here