Proactively reach out to reporters.

When you see someone quoted in the news, talking about aspects of your business, do you think,

Why are they talking to HER and NOT ME?

The answer is Reporters call the people they know; they don’t call someone they never heard of.

How can YOU be the one reporters call?

Simple. Introduce yourself to journalists as an authoritative, reliable AND accessible source who has insights that others in the industry or the local area need to hear.

Recently, I’ve spoken to groups of women professionals and shared the following statistics from Bloomberg News, one of the top tier media outlets that actively seek women as sources. (Men, feel free to share this newsletter with your female colleagues.)

Bloomberg maintains a database of women who are leaders in business and finance.

In 2018, there were 500 women listed in the dataset.
In 2020, there were 6,500 women in the database.

In fact, the news organization has a New Voices initiative to identify top women and provide them with media training.

Here’s the outcome of these efforts:

• In 2018, their top news stories quoted women 2.3% of the time.
• In 2020, 17% of the sources were women.

On Bloomberg TV:

• In 2018, women sources appeared 10% of the time.
• In 2020, women were 27% of interviewees.

It’s not only Bloomberg. The New York Times wants to publish more Letters to the Editor from women and The Financial Times is tracking when news stories quote too many men.

Let’s see how you can contribute to this upward trend.

This Month’s Tip

Being contacted by a reporter is like the lottery; you have to be in it to win it. Use a Media Profile to introduce yourself to journalists as someone who has her finger on the pulse of the industry. Think of trends that you see looming on the horizon. Consider big picture ideas that will spark interest in your insights. Is there an upcoming deadline that companies must meet? Anticipate how this may impact businesses in a specific industry or local area. Your ideas should help an individual, business owner or an executive to Save Time, Save Money or Make More Money.

Contact

There’s a reporter who wants to talk to you, but she does not yet know who you are and which vital insights you will tell her readers and viewers. Start composing your Media Profile. Then contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Together we’ll polish your calling card for the media so YOU will be the ONE reporters call. 

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