E-mail, don't call journalists

Nearly 80 percent of journalists said they prefer to receive information “via press releases sent to me by email,” according to a recent survey of over 2000 working journalists by Bulldog Reporter and TEKgroup Internationa

As a former journalist who now teaches college journalism and runs a media relations firm, I concur.

Journalists don't want to be bothered with phone calls from PR flacks. They will invariably brush you off saying, "I'm on deadline." E-mail is less intrusive and allows them to read what you have to say when they have a free moment.

An approach that works for me is to send a very brief e-mail pitch -- no more than five sentences. Below that, I include my "press release," which is more of a news story. This way, if they want more info, it's there.

Many smaller and specialty publications will borrow liberally from my story or even run it verbatim.

-Professor Mark Grabowski