If you want to do successful media outreach, then knowing the top media journalists in your industry is just as important as having a newsworthy story to share. It’s quite easy to use a media database to find journalists to reach out to with your story. Even so, it’s important to pick journalists who are a good fit for your brand.
Do you need help finding the top media journalists in your industry? Pressfarm can help you build curated media lists to help you reach out to journalists in your industry with your story. In addition to that, we offer all our clients access to an extensive media database. You can also use our filter-enabled platform to search for journalists across niches, publications and categories.
Pressfarm helps companies to create quality content including professional press releases, winning guest posts and eye-catching media kits.
As part of their PR packages, Pressfarm also provides access to their PR database of over 1 million journalists so that companies can filter through to find their ideal media match. Given the current digital landscape of industries, Pressfarm’s PR experts also help with online distribution by increasing release visibility in relevant search results across major search engines.
If building media lists isn’t your thing, then Pressfarm can also do that for you, thus helping you connect with the best journalists in your niche. With any of Pressfarm’s PR packages, you can find the best people to tell your brand story, and get quality content to share with these expert storytellers.
So, how do you pick someone who will be a good fit?
How to choose a media journalist
Picking the right person to pitch to might seem very easy at first. Most communications specialists go for the journalists with the biggest audiences, because they feel this guarantees them access to more people.
However, the top journalist to pitch your story to isn’t always the one with the most readers. It isn’t always the one who writes for the biggest publications either. At the end of the day, there are other factors that come into play when choosing the best person to reach out to.
What are these factors?
1) Industry
Ideally, you should pitch your story to a journalist who writes about your industry or area of specialty. If the journalist’s beat doesn’t match your field, then you’ll find yourself wasting a lot of time and effort. After all, a finance journalist won’t be interested in writing about your fashion startup unless there is a financial aspect to your story.
In order to save both you and the person you’re pitching some time, find out what their beat is before you pitch a story. Read recent stories which they’ve published. Is your story within their area of interest? If it isn’t, then you might want to look for someone who would be more interested in writing about you.
2) Target audience
Before you can confidently put a journalist in your contact list, you must first take a moment to evaluate the journalist’s target audience. Do they match your target audience?
It’s important to make sure you’re pitching your story to journalists who will help you get to the people you’re trying to reach. Pitching to someone with the wrong audience for your product is a waste of time for both you and the journalist themselves. At the end of the day, the journalist also wants to produce content that is valuable to their audience. For this reason, before you reach out to a journalist, you need to make sure their target audience is in line with yours.
In addition, a journalist’s audience must also engage with their content. In order to make sure your story won’t land on deaf ears, check whether a journalist’s readers engage with the stories they publish.
3) Prior relationship
Once you’ve built your list of top media journalists, it’s important to reach out and build relationships with them before you have an actual story to pitch. So a big part of doing successful media outreach is building relationships with the media.
In order to build positive long-term relationships with journalists, you must reach out before you even have a story to pitch. Additionally, comment on the stories they publish or initiate a conversation based on their social media posts. It also doesn’t hurt to help them with a story at a time when it doesn’t benefit your brand.
A journalist who remembers that you connected with them at a time when you didn’t need any favours is more likely to help when you want them to write a story about your brand. For this reason, you should do your best to pitch to journalists who you already have a prior relationship with.
Top media journalists to write about your startup in 2021
Ultimately, choosing the right media journalist for your story takes time and effort. Nevertheless, if you want to attract media attention, then you need to start by choosing the right journalist. Having said that, here is our list of top media journalists to write about your startup in 2021.
In order to make it easier for you to find the best fit for your startup, we have broken this list down by four industries: business journalists, finance & economics journalists, cryptocurrency journalists and travel & lifestyle journalists.
Business journalists
1) Biz Carson – Business, VC & Startups Reporter for Protocol
Twitter: @bizcarson
Biz is a San Francisco-based staff reporter at Protocol. This is a website that covers the people, power and politics of tech. She also writes about startups and venture capital. Before her time at Protocol, she co-edited the Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list.
You can find Biz’s articles in:
- Protocol
- Forbes
- MSN UK
- UOL
- MSN
- The Independent
- WIRED Magazine
- The Economic Times
- Yahoo India
- Business Insider
- SFGate
2) Steven Perlberg – Freelance Business Reporter
Twitter: @perlberg
Steven is a freelance reporter based in Berlin. He writes about media, politics, business, and also culture. He also writes about business for Business Insider.
You can find Steven’s articles in:
- The Wall Street Journal
- Vanity Fair
- Business Insider
- BuzzFeed News
- Fortune, Politico
- The Times of London
3) Tom Witherow – Business Correspondent for the Daily Mail
Twitter: @TomWitherow
Tom is a London-based business correspondent at the Daily Mail. He not only covers breaking news, but also runs exclusive investigations in retail, leisure, consumer and gambling.
You can find Tom’s articles in:
- Daily Mail
- The Independent
- New Zealand Herald
- Business Report
- Independent Online
- IOL Entertainment
- This is Money
- Nouse Magazine
- Daily Voice (South Africa)
- The Girl Sun
4) Jason Feifer – Editor-in-Chief for Entrepreneur
Twitter: @heyfeifer
Jason isn’t just the editor-in-chief at Entrepreneur magazine. He also hosts two podcasts: Problem Solvers – stories about entrepreneurs solving unforeseen problems that arise in their businesses, and Pessimists Archive – a look at innovation across history.
You can find Jason’s articles in:
- Fast Company
- Men’s Health,
- Washington Post
- New York Times
- Slate
- New York magazine
5) Jeff Beer – Staff Editor at Fast Company
Twitter: @jeffcbeer
Jeff is a Toronto-based staff editor at Fast Company, where he writes about advertising, marketing and also brand creativity. He’s excited about stories that cover branding, culture, technology and where they all meet.
You can find Jeff’s articles in:
- Fast Company
- Medium
- MSN, La Nación (Argentina)
- AdAge
- Canadian Business
- Fast Company South Africa
Finance & Economics journalists
1) Amanda Abella – Freelance Finance Expert and Blogger
Twitter: @amandaabella
Amanda is a millennial finance expert and a sales & marketing coach. Her blog has been voted the best in South Florida. She is also the author of the bestseller “Make Money your Honey.”
You can find Amanda’s articles in:
- Business Insider
- The Huffington Post
- HowStuffWorks
- Inc.
- Investopedia
- Epoch Times
- Business 2 Community
- The Balance
- Lifehack!
- GOBankingRates
- Money Under 30
- StartupNation
- PaymentsSource
- AlleyWatch
- MYMOVE
- Inc. Arabia
2) Stephanie Flanders – Senior Executive Editor for Bloomberg
Twitter: @MyStephanomics
Stephanie is senior executive editor for economics at Bloomberg and head of Bloomberg Economics. Previously, she has served as Chief Market Strategist for Europe at JP Morgan Asset Management in London and BBC Economics Editor. In addition, she was Senior Advisor to US Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and an editorial writer for the Financial Times. She has also worked as an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and London Business School.
You can find Stephanie’s articles in:
- Bloomberg News
- BBC
- The Guardian
- MSN
- Financial Times
- The Telegraph
- The Economic Times
- The Sunday Times
- The Times
- Yahoo Finance
- NDTV Profit
3) Rebecca Jarvis – Chief Business, Technology & Economics Correspondent for ABC News
Twitter: @RebeccaJarvis
Rebecca is an Emmy Award-winning Economics correspondent for ABC News and a writer for Good Morning America. She also hosts two podcasts. In ” No Limits with Rebecca Jarvis,” she talks to female entrepreneurs about what it takes to succeed. Similarly, in “Real Biz with Rebecca Jarvis,” Rebecca interviews the biggest names in Hollywood, business, tech, fashion, comedy, food, sports, and startups.
Rebecca is passionate about all things business, technology, and economics. She has also worked in investment banking and foreign currency trading.
You can find Rebecca’s articles in:
- CNBC: where she covered market news from the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and also the New York Mercantile Exchange
- NBC News
- Crain’s Chicago Business and Business 2.0.
4) Jesse Eisinger – Senior Reporter and Editor, ProPublica
Twitter: @eisingerj
Jesse is a senior reporter at ProPublica, where he covers Wall Street and finance. In addition, he is a regular columnist for the New York Times “Dealbook” section. In April 2011, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting after writing about Wall Street practices that made the financial crisis the worst since the Great Depression. He is also the author of “The Chickenshit Club” – a book about why the Justice Department fails to execute executives.
You can find Jesse’s articles in:
- The New York Times
- MSN
- The Washington Post
- The Wall Street Journal
- Business Insider
- NBC News
- NPR
- The Huffington Post
- The Atlantic
- Sydney Morning Herald
5) Michael Arrington – Finance and Tech Expert
Twitter: @arrington
Michael is the founder of TechCrunch, CrunchBase and also Arrington XRP Capital. He’s also passionate about stories related to technology and finance.
You can find Michael’s articles in:
- TechCrunch
- The Washington Post
- Seeking Alpha
- Bitcoinist
- Business.com
- The Telegraph (Macon)
- The Learning Principal
Cryptocurrency journalists
1) Maria Bustillos – Bitcoin and Ethereum Journalist
Twitter: @mariabustillos
Maria is the founding editor at The Brick House and Popula, both journalist-owned organizations. She is also a Columbia Journalism Review public editor for MSNBC.
You can find Maria’s articles in:
- Columbia Journalism Review
- Popula
- Medium
- GEN Magazine
- The Guardian
- The New York Times
- Bloomberg News
- Los Angeles Times
- The Huffington Post
- Newsweek
- The Verge
- ESPN
2) Ian DeMartino – Cofounder of CoinJournal
Twitter: @IanDeMartino
Ian is the cofounder of CoinJournal, one of the leading cryptocurrency blogs. He is a freelance writer for CoinDesk as well as the author behind The Bitcoin Guidebook.
You can find Ian’s articles in:
- Coin Journal
- Medium
- CoinDesk
- Cointelegraph
3) Marc Hochstein – managing editor for CoinDesk
Twitter: @MarcHochstein
As executive editor at CoinDesk, Marc enjoys writing about the evolution of money in today’s digital age. As editor-in-chief at American Banker, he was one of the first reporters to cover cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
You can find Marc’s articles in:
- CoinDesk
- Business Insider
- Yahoo Finance
- Yahoo, Nasdaq
- The Financial Brand
- Cato Institute
- American Banker
- American Banker Magazine
- National Mortgage News
- PaymentsSource
4) Nathaniel Popper – cryptocurrency journalist for New York Times
Twitter: @nathanielpopper
Nathaniel is a San Francisco-based finance and technology reporter for the New York Times. He’s also the author of “Digital Gold” – a history of bitcoin and blockchain.
You can find Nathan’s articles in:
- The New York Times
- Medium
- The Guardian
- MSN UK
- MSN South Africa
- Folha de S.Paulo
- This MSN India
- MSN Canada
- MSN
- O Globo
- The Economic Times
5) Jon Russell – Reporter for TechCrunch
Twitter: @jonrussell
As a reporter at TechCrunch, Jon Russel enjoys writing about tech in Asia and also has an interest in cryptocurrency.
You can find Jon’s articles in:
- The Ken
- Medium
- Yahoo Singapore
- Channel 7
- TechCrunch
- Yahoo Finance
- Yahoo Tech
- The Next Web
- Slate, Autoblog
- Tech in Asia
Travel & also Leisure journalists
1) Lindsay Tigar – Freelance Travel & Lifestyle Journalist
Lindsay has experience as a travel and lifestyle journalist, content strategist, and also an editor. She produces content for C-level executives, travel agents, dating sites and beyond.
You can find Lindsay’s articles in:
- Travel + Leisure
- Vogue
- USA Today
- Fast Company
- Bravo TV
- BRIDES
- WeddingWire
2) Johnny Jet – Freelance Travel Journalist & Blogger
Twitter: @JohnnyJet
Forbes has named Johnny Jet “the original travel influencer.” He travels 150,000 miles and also visits over 20 countries every year. He has also over 10,000 mentions in major publications.
You can find Johnny’s articles in:
- USA Today
- Fortune
- The New York Times
He has also been featured on:
- ABC
- CBS
- CNBC
- CNN
- FOX
- MSNBC
- NBC
- PBS
Johnny also hosted the TV special Hot Spots 2012 on the Travel Channel.
3) Dave Levart – Freelance Travel Journalist
Twitter: @DaveDTC
Dave is a freelance international travel writer, photographer, and a videographer. He’s also the founder of “Dave’s Travel Corner,” a premier travel resource that promotes experiential travel.
You can find Dave’s articles in:
- Four Seasons Magazine
- Johnny Jet
- MATADOR network
- Napa Valley Life
- Robb Report
- Travel Mindset
Dave’s blog has also earned mentions in:
- Huffington Post
- National Geographic Traveler
- Seattle Times
- TripAdvisor
- USA Today Travel
Dave’s Travel Corner also features among the top 15 travel blogs on the planet in Everything-Everywhere.
4) Scott McCartney – Middle Seat columnist for Wall Street Journal
Twitter: @MiddleSeat
Scott is the writer of the Middle Seat column in the Wall Street Journal about airlines and travel. He also runs the Middle Seat Terminal blog. He has covered the airline and aviation beat for over 18 years. McCartney enjoys talking about the changes in airline travel.
You can find Scott’s articles in:
- The Wall Street Journal
- MSN Australia
- National Geographic Traveler
- The (Toronto) Star
- MarketWatch
- La Nación (Argentina)
- Expansión
- Mint
- Business Standard
- Barron’s
- Genetic Literacy Project
5) Lavanya Sunkara – Freelance Travel Writer for Forbes
Twitter: @Nature_Traveler
As a globetrotter, Lavanya is a freelance travel writer based in New York and has a decade of experience as a travel and eco-lifestyle writer and also an editor. She also writes about travel, pets, animal welfare, conservation, wildlife, health, outdoor recreation, and small-ship cruising.
You can find Lavanya’s articles in:
- The New York Times
- Fodor’s Travel
- USA Today
- 10Best
- Architectural Digest
- Forbes
- Shermans Travel
- The Dodo
- Salon
- amNY
- The Points Guy
- Huffington Post
- JohnnyJet
This list should be a good starting point to help you build your own media list. Ultimately, with the right contact list, you should also be able to capture a journalist’s attention with your email pitches.