Using Twitter to attract journalists

Twitter is making it easier than ever to stay in touch and up-to-date with anyone and everyone, but what some people may not know is journalists are taking advantage of that to find stories. Making contacts with journalists via Twitter can really help you and your client when it comes to media relations. Many times journalists will tweet out that they need help either finding an interesting story or even getting facts and sources for a story they are working on.

In the article "14 ways to use Twitter to attract journalists," Patrick Garmoe says that Twitter has been his most successful tool in building and maintaining relationships with reporters. He then goes on to list the 14 ways in which he uses Twitter to attract journalists. Some of the items on his list are:

-Watch for tweets asking for help, especially on deadline. That's the quickest way to strike up a relationship.

-Monitor and post hashtags of the town or topic you or your client is involved in. Even if the reporters don't tweet, they'll likely monitor it for interesting story ideas.

-Thank them via Twitter for covering an event you attended, especially if you were able to chat with the reporter. This helps solidify the new contact.

I think that each of the 14 ideas Garmoe states are smart and clever. Journalists are looking for a simpler way to find stories that are of interest to the public and PR practitioners are looking for an easier way to get their clients stories out there, thus Twitter helps both parties.