Introduction

Finding the right journalist is harder than ever. This webinar shows how to cut through noise and pitch people who actually care.

What's the problem it solves?

Most journalists are flooded with bad pitches. Over half say they rarely get something relevant. Big media lists waste time, burn trust, and deliver poor results.

Quick Summary

Digital PR is getting tougher. Newsrooms are smaller, more people are pitching, and journalists have less time. The old spray-and-pray approach no longer works.

The webinar explains how to find journalists by starting with the right sites, then narrowing down to writers who cover the same topic and format as your story. Google search operators, recent articles, and format matching matter more than media databases.

It also shows why AI tools help with finding sites but fail at picking the right journalists. Manual checks like activity, beat, format, and linking behavior are still critical. Tools like ListIQ help speed this up without losing quality.

Key Takeaways

• Small, focused media lists beat large generic ones
• Journalists care more about format than topic alone
• Google search beats most media databases for accuracy
• AI is weak at picking the right journalist, not the right site
• Freelancers reply more but in-house writers place stories easier
• Journalists often do not link to brands, check before pitching
• One or two good links is normal now, not dozens

What to do

• Start with specific sites before expanding your search
• Use Google operators like site:, allintitle:, and date filters
• Match your pitch to the journalist’s usual article format
• Check recent activity to confirm they are still publishing
• Avoid pitching writers who just covered the same story
• Build smaller lists and refresh them monthly
• Spend more time on fit, less time on volume

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