Identifying proper media contacts for your PR pitches can resemble a "shot gun wedding" or an arranged marriage. The difference often rests with the resources you use to implement an effective media relations program.

From left: Scott Nowicki, Dan Forbush, Gary Glenn, Dick Johnson (Ted Lacy photo)

A group of informed "media match makers" addressed the April Publicity Club of Chicago luncheon. Featured speakers were: Dan Forbush, president of ProfNet, part of PR Newswire; Gary Glenn, president and CEO of NewsWireOne, Inc.; and Scott Nowicki, regional sales director of MediaMap and AssignmentEditor.com. The panel, moderated by WMAQ/NBC Channel 5 morning news broadcaster Dick Johnson, discussed how their news outlets best serve PR professionals, enabling them to do their jobs more effectively using the "Non-Traditional PR Resources" these speakers represent.

Dick Johnson

Prefacing the discussion, the Emmy and duPont-Columbia award-winning broadcast journalist Johnson acknowledged that "we survive for on you PR people for about half of what we do. For example, often we don’t know about research until you tell us about it." As the stations are now "lean, mean operations, too often we react to newspaper stories when we don’t have the information you have to offer. News rooms are dictated by budget and immediacy." He marveled that experts could be available online in real time and, that new technology enhanced during the recent war, provided live daily feeds to our living rooms.

He spoke enviously of watching reporters use video phones, lipstick cameras and the Bloommobile (named for the late NBC reporter David Bloom). "Like the reporters embedded with the troops," he said, "we [reporters] would love to be embedded in the industries on which we report to provide more of an inside look."

Indicating that stations at one time had research staffs, Johnson said, although the planning editor acts as gatekeeper, reporters now do their own research and produce their own stories. In addition, "the morning show is two hours long," he explained. "It’s great to supplement content with satellite interviews for example! As for video, we prefer to use our own but when there is no crew, it’s nice to be able to grab and use video provided for us by outside sources such as video news releases. When we need to find the experts, do the research and write the story for broadcast…time is of the essence." Of course as much as possible, video releases need to be illustrative, balanced and objective, providing both sides whenever possible."

To ensure their access to the media and the media’s access to material, several sources are available to help both media and PR people. They include ProfNet, SourceNet, MediaMap, AssignmentEditor.com and NewsWireOne.

Dan Forbush

With 15 years in academic public relations, Evanston, IL - native Forbush launched ProfNet "Professors’ Network" in 1992 to provide journalists and authors convenient access to faculty experts. "It began," he explained, "as a list serve at the State University of New York at Stoney Brook to create a loop between journalists and experts. In 1996, PR Newswire approached Forbush, suggesting he expand it to all PR news agencies. It now hosts both operations, which encompasses 4,000 organizations of all types and assists more 200 reporters daily. In 2000, ProfNet ( expanded its reach to Europe and is beginning expansion into Africa. "It basically is a list serve in addition to an expert database, hosting 10,000 expert profiles allowing reporters to get quotes from experts on timely topics."

ProfNet requires web registration, allowing users to select the segments they want to receive. "A PR person can submit leads to expert profiles and interact in cyberspace. For news distribution, you can assemble what you want from a release," he said. "The more information sent provides a better chance for pickup. ProfNet is a collaborative service that powerfully connects reporters to PR people."

ProfNet checks all companies and experts from PR people who work with them. Its subscription rates are on a sliding scale that offer special rates for not-for-profits and sole practitioners.

Gary Glenn

"Non-traditional resources fit into the mix out of necessity," said this media and advertising expert. "They have to happen in order to progress and succeed." He should know.

Having started his career at an ad agency in graphic production, Glenn served as sales executive for several media organizations, as well as becoming a planning consultant, supervising research and strategic planning projects. As a result of this experience, he developed several programs to track retail buying behavior, leading to starting his own consulting firm, which he sold in 1993. Becoming the vice president of sales and marketing for an international distributor of recreational optics products, Glenn restructured the company’s systems and established new markets abroad, as well as developing and launching new products. He left to become sales director for ABC/Disney before co-founding NewWireOne in 2001. The concept that Internet technology could dramatically improve the process of corporate news distribution was the foundation on which NewsWireOne was created.

Glenn acknowledged that "news rooms have changed so much, it is important to understand that some staff no longer exists. It’s a different ball game."

"In this short news cycle, NewsWireOne can deliver split second information over the Internet," he said. "It provides journalists more information along with text, photos and video all together to provide immediate information." However, "the war has created a whole new way to look at the news and technology. The utility of the product itself has become important."

Glenn stressed there is a human touch on every name and record. "We can maintain client databases and know seconds after distribution if an e-mail address is no longer valid."

"We provide ‘need-to-know’ information from reputable sources," said Glenn. "We personally verify everything." Subscriptions are annual and based on a la carte packages.

Scott Nowicki

Having spent more than 20 years helping companies improve their productivity with software tools, information services and consulting, Scott Nowicki has spent the past seven years with marketing professionals, serving companies like American Express, Anthem, Eli Lilly, Shandwick and Salomon Smith Barney. MediaMap, for which he is regional sales director, was founded in Boston in the heydays of Wang and Digital computers and their PR promotions.

"MediaMap was developed as a research tool and software to unify the media and reporters," said Nowicki. "It offers vital information on media outlet personnel including reporter preferences, methods of preferred contact, pet peeves," and other information. It offers "customized contact management, allowing PR people to track conversations, contacts, etc., plus real time reporting of coverage." A whole desktop of products is available to users.

Its sibling "SourceNet" offers story resource opportunities for journalists. It can list experts from an expert base or a query looking for this kind of service can be sent.

The newly acquired MediaMap addition, AssignmentEditor.com, is a portal page invented by journalists for research. "It is a library of internet links, a means of obtaining photos and all the things journalists might use on a daily basis. It is also valuable for PR people to use." So far, AssignmentEditor.com has been kept the same, although its new parent is considering how it might evolve.

Also available is a product called EdCals.com, featuring editorial calendars and ed cal tracking.

"This is like the reporters’ Yahoo;" with these products, "you can find editorial calendars, very specific information and the right editors for the right stories," said Nowicki.

A subscription service, Nowicki also verifies sources and experts with his staff of researchers and editor interviews. The research staff has goals and database updates take place daily. He indicates that each quarter about 38 percent of all records change in the course of MediaMap’s extensive research.

Time PR People Embraced New Technologies

The PCC session reinforced the need for PR people to take advantage of new technologies that will help them work smarter, more efficiently and with greater success. While these services don’t come cheaply, PR professionals need to reassess the value of embracing technologies that maximize the valuable hours they have each day to serve clients or their organizations.