This guide will swiftly navigate you through how to find journalists interested in your campaign.
Searching for journalists via news search
When you log in, you will land on the 'news search' page.
The tool uses Google News to fetch articles for your entered search term and will then extract their respective journalists.
Aim to use search terms that will bring up journalists who have previously written about similar topics to your campaign.
If your campaign is related to the UK's royal family, searching for something like "Harry Meghan release book" will bring up journalists who've recently covered Prince Harry, indicating a potential interest in your campaign.
You can use the same operators as you can in normal Google Search, including Boolean operators i.e. ('AND' and 'OR') and search modifiers like 'intitle:'. However you are limited to one search modifier per search.
Tip: Dive deeper into our article on effective searching for more insights on how to get the most out of our search.
Once you have decided on a search term type you need to select a time period.
The default time period is "past year" and this is great for getting a comprehensive overview. However, for more time-sensitive campaigns (i.e. reactives), opting for "recent" or "past 24 hours" is more appropriate.
Pro Tip: Preview your search without spending credits by clicking "preview search". This opens a new tab where you can see potential articles.
The aim of this is to ensure your search will return relevant articles. If you don't like the look of the results, you can modify the search.
Note: The preview may not be 100% the same as the actual search you make, but it should be very similar (provided you complete the search soon after the preview).
If you're happy with the preview, press 'search' and the results will appear below within a few seconds.
Click on the result to review the articles and start adding journalists to your media list.
Other ways of finding journalists
News search is the main and most effective way to find journalists, but it's not the only option. You can also find journalists by:
Bulk upload feature: Where you can upload a list of external URLs.
Searching by name: Search directly for a specific journalist.
Publication search: Find journalists through specific publications.
Maximize your success: Don't miss our in-depth guide on searching effectively