Being Careful with Sources

In a digital age, it's easier than ever for someone to pretend to be something that he or she is not. This can be a serious issue for a journalist. (In fact, I've got an article coming up in the October issue of The Writer on how to help detect such problems before they happen.) I came across an example of someone pretending on the social networking site Twitter to be from ExxonMobile. A market analyst from Forrester wrote about the "person," assuming that her defense of such things as the Exxon Valdez was real. He never checked out the person, and so looked like a fool in print. It's a danger to take people at electronic face value. Before using comments that someone makes, be sure you know who exactly is making them.

Greatly Improved Profnet Interface

If Profnet's interface has driven you off in search of other tools for finding sources, you might consider giving it another try. I needed to find this morning a type of legal source that Profnet has been helpful in reaching (and I'm guessing that the HARO mailing had already gone out). Happily, they have made some important changes in the interface that makes it more manageable. For example, to set the date, you no longer have to wait for the calendar to come up and then click on the date. Instead, drop down boxes let you quickly pick month, day, and time. Choosing geographic areas all happens with check boxes, and by clicking on one of the associated plus signs, you can immediately expand a given area into its constituent parts. It reminds me of how the service used to work, and is certainly a change for the better.

Scientific Journal Gets Hoaxed

I actually ran this on my photography blog yesterday, but thought that readers of this blog might find it interesting: a scientific journal ran a piece about Thomas Edison supposedly being involved in the murder of a rival, even though there are enough red flags in the text to put you in the running of the bulls in Pamplona. The object lesson is that if a story smells funny, maybe you should take a deeper look before becoming the likely victim of a prank.

Using Blogs to Find People

Ever try to find a high-profile person? One technique that often works is to search on Google for the person's name in quotes along with the word blog. With some luck, the person will have a blog that will, in turn, have a way of contacting him or her. If not a blog, see if the person has a web site with a contact form. Over the years, I've directly reach people ranging from Scott Adams to Susan Orlean using similar techniques.

Using Profnet Effectively

I've seen many writers complaining about Profnet as of late. The dislike of the interface I can't do much about. But on problems with getting responses, there are a few pointers I can offer after using the service since its early days and having a fair amount of success in getting what I need from it:

• Strong Headline - I don't mean overly clever, but something that gets across the essence of what you're seeking. Be as clear and specific as you can, so when PR people glance through the headlines, they will notice your query and whether they have something applicable.


• Don't Cloak - There are times when you might absolutely have to, but in general, don't cloak your queries. This is an example of having to outguess the mental processes of the PR people. They're trying to get the most high profile press for their clients. If they know the name - and it's rare they're knowing is a significant problem - then they can either approach their clients or not without having to ask you for the name first, which they'll probably want, and reasonably so. What I do, however, is to make sure that in the recipient categories I do not check media. That keeps me from sending the query to potential competitors.


• Be Descriptive - I've found that writing an effective query has a lot in common with writing a good piece of marketing. I put in the material I'm looking for, but try to phrase it in such a way that I get someone's interest. Let them see their clients in the piece so they'll respond. Some clients will say no after hearing about it, but that's an occupational hazard and leads to the next point.


• Don't Sweat Small Stuff - There will be PR people who send you something off-target, or who talk about their clients and then say a day or two later that the client isn't interested. Just let it roll off your back. After all, you've lost, what, maybe 30 to 60 seconds of reading an email and replying? It hasn't been that big a burden. If someone is completely off base, just reply, "Thanks, but not a fit."


• Try, Try Again - This is something I've learned only recently. There was a time that you'd get a strong response any time you used Profnet. But now I've seen times when I sent a query and got nothing. But I've started trying to resend them on other days and, presto, I get some targeted sources. I don't know why everyone who catches it on a later date doesn't the first time, but it's easy enough to send a second time. Sometimes I'll even reword the head or body of the query if I think it will help improve response.


• Avoid Conflict - Here's another point where you have to put yourself in the PR person's shoes. They may not want their clients getting into a story that could prove embarrassing. So try toning down your word choices, using less inflammatory terms, and put a "happy spin" that still leaves you with the essence of what you're seeking. You can ask the tougher questions when the person is on the phone, but get them on the phone without using false pretenses. For example, I had to do a story on marketing people becoming obsolete for lack of continued training. Put that way, I got nothing. So I asked about where some extra learning or training meant the difference between success and failure, and suddenly I had some takers. No one wanted to say, "I am professionally obsolete." No wonder.


• Don't Say Pitch Thanks to a freelancer who took a full-time PR job and suggested not to say that you're working on a pitch for a publication. That's a red flag of a non-existent article that could have a source spinning wheels for no reason. If you can truthfully say so, instead say that you're preparing a proposal at an editor's request.

This won't cure all of your problems with Profnet, but it might help you get sources more frequently and with less hassle.

Finding Sources

Finding people can be time-consuming and frustrating. I've just added something called Finding Sources to the Resource section to the left with information on some tools and techniques for both online and real world looking.