Planet13 - 6:32 pm on May 24, 2011 (gmt 0)

Isn't there a site like "help a reporter out" where you can kind of submit news "leads" to different reporters in the hopes that they will pick it up and write an article about it? Kind of like a press release, but more open, I guess.

The thing to know about reporters is that they are generally A) Lazy, B) Busy, and C) competitive - did I mention that they are lazy? So if you were going to target certain reporters and certain publications, you should have a pretty good idea of how you want their story to "read" ahead of time. The more you can pre-write the article and spoon feed it to them, the happier they will be.

Just as most of the content on the web is re-spun hash, most of the reporters out their just recycle stories from other sources. So if you can figure out what sources those reporters are getting their "inspiration" from, and get your news releases there, then yo have a pretty good chance of your info "going viral" among journalists.

Also, most reporters I know like to drink beer; Having been a journalist for four years, I can suggest that one shouldn't overlook this very important fact.

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By the way: Is the new service that you working on related to the government-related domains you picked up that you mentioned in another thread?