Though I went to journalism school, I know very little about the inner workings of an actual news company. I’ve never seen behind the curtain as to what goes into getting a newspaper printed or posted on a daily basis.
I know there are services like the Associated Press or Reuters that post articles that are then syndicated by papers/new sites all over the world. But until this Tuesday, I had no idea how that system actually worked.
A few weeks back, I had answered a HARO (Help A Reporter Out.com) query for individuals that were quitting their job to start a new one. Having just been hired by Gangplank, I figured what the hell. If I could get some publicity for the nonprofit, all the better.
Photo taken by Matt York
I received an email from AP reporter Chris Leonard asking if he could ask me some questions. After our discussion, I had the feeling my story didn’t fit and that he wasn’t going to use my quotes. Then, a week or so later, a photographer called asking if he could take some pictures for the story, which would run the following week.
So before I even started at Gangplank, I already had a photographer posing me in the building. Way to make a first impression.
I got a call from Chris on Monday, letting me know the story would run the next day.
Around 7am, I woke up, rolled over and checked my phone. 12 google alerts for my name. The AP story had been picked up by publications ranging from Yahoo! News UK to the San Francisco Chronicle.
But I was about to get schooled in the real workings of the journalism field.
At 10am, I get a call from Fox 10 news. They’re doing a story similar to the AP article and want to do a follow-up for the 5pm news. They need a source.
At 2pm, I get an email from an NPR reporter. They want to cover the story for ‘Marketplace’ and need a source.
I had no idea how much news teams rely on other articles to pull sources. This is why a service like HARO is so invaluable to not only reporters, but to those looking to get themselves or their business/cause out there. Sources are just hard to find.
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Sweet network, thanks. First time heard of it.
Thanks for posting the info on HARO, and congratulations on your new job with Gangplank!