On Sept. 5, 2019, I attended Business Wire’s Meet the Media luncheon to connect with journalists based in Seattle to learn more about how to effectively engage with them. The event had an impressive lineup of journalists from various media outlets, including broadcast journalists, managing editors, reporters and business editors.
The luncheon was structured similar to speed dating. Each journalist sat at an assigned table and attendees had three 15-minute sessions to ask questions. As there were more journalists than sessions, I met with journalists I hadn’t worked with as closely and whose outlets had varying target audiences.
Below is an overview of each of the sessions and my key takeaways.
Rami Grunbaum, The Seattle Times
My first session was with Rami Grunbaum, the business editor at the Seattle Times. Rami shared that the digital publication of the Seattle Times has become a focus for the publication and that the unique visitors per month (UVPM) continues to see impressive growth. Also, the Seattle Times has become the second largest publication on the West Coast, behind the Los Angeles Times. Rami did indicate that, while there is a digital focus, it doesn’t influence or change the stories they’ll cover in the business section.
Key Takeaway:
For the Seattle Times’ business section, large enterprise business stories are effective, especially those that focus on trends impacting the region. When I asked what trends were most interesting to him, Rami informed me that he believes real estate will be an important one to monitor.
Patranya Bhoolsuwan, KIRO News
Next, I spoke with Patranya Bhoolsuwan, an anchor and reporter with KIRO News. Recently, we’ve supported multiple clients with broadcast stories, and I was eager to speak directly with a broadcast journalist to determine if there were any new approaches or ideas that we had not previously leveraged. Patranya shared that when she evaluates a story, she wants to see diversity, personal perspectives/angles, and hard-hitting news. And, of course, an interesting visual element always helps. Additionally, because broadcast news moves so quickly, she encouraged us to be more aggressive in our pitching efforts.
Key Takeaway:
Patranya mentioned that following her career in journalism, she may consider offering media training services. When asked what she thought the most valuable piece of advice for on-camera interviews would be, she said, “Don’t look at the camera and stick to your message.”
Karen Weise, The New York Times
Finally, my last session was with Karen Weise, a technology reporter for the New York Times based in Seattle. Karen joined the New York Times about a year ago and largely (almost exclusively) focuses on Amazon. While no one in this session was tied to Amazon, she still offered interesting information about the outlet at large and the tech trends she finds interesting. She said as she continues to settle into her role with the publication, she would like to expand her beat to cover business-to-business and startup technology. While this is not currently a part of her beat, she is still open to receiving the news.
Key Takeaway:
While Karen’s beat is Amazon, she said that she is open to covering stories about bigger themes that relate to Amazon, such as workforce, e-commerce, etc. Another important takeaway not exclusive to Karen, but worth sharing, is that the New York Times almost never covers funding, unless it’s an exorbitant amount.
There was one common theme across all my sessions with the journalists: If you pitch them and the story isn’t quite the right fit for them, but they believe it will be for a colleague, they’ll likely pass it on. So, while finding the right reporter is key, it really comes down to having a strong story that meets the needs of the publication. If you target the wrong person, but have the elements for a compelling story, they’ll work with you to get in contact with the right journalist.
Thank you to Business Wire for hosting a valuable event, and thank you to the journalists who took time out of their day to share these insights!