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Search FAQ

Commonly asked questions regarding our search function.

Veronica Fletcher avatar
Written by Veronica Fletcher
Updated over a week ago

Can't find the answer you need? Don't hesitate to reach out via our support chat for assistance.

Note: Our tool is still in its early stages, so you may come across a few small bugs. We're working hard behind the scenes to iron these out, and want to say thank you for sticking with us while we do this.

If you notice anything that looks wrong, please flag it to us via the chat.

Why am I seeing the same journalists multiple times?

This happens when a journalist has written multiple articles on the topic you're searching for. If you make several similar searches, you might also notice the same articles coming up again.

Repeatedly encountering the same journalist can actually be beneficial because it suggests they'll have a strong interest in your story, and therefore could benefit from a personalised email.

Concerned about duplicates in your media list? No need. Our system ensures a journalist appears only once in your list, no matter how many times you select them.

Note: Adding a filter to exclude journalists already in a media list from the search results is possible, but it wouldn't expand the pool of potential journalists. It would simply streamline the search results. If you like the sound of this, let us know via the chat.

Why can't I filter the results by location / publication / DR (domain rating)?

Our focus is on helping you discover the journalists most relevant to your campaign, and over-filtering initially can mean missing out on great matches.

When you export your media list, you'll get lots of information including job title, outlet, and location, enabling you to refine your list as needed. We don't include DR because every media mention is good.

Plus, a freelancer writing for a lower DR publication could potentially land you in a higher DR publication.

Why do I see articles from a different location when I used a location filter?

We use the Google News location filter, which isn't a true filter - articles deemed relevant enough but outside your selected location will still appear.

For example, if you search for a topic that has recently received significant coverage in UK news but not in the US, you will mostly see UK articles, even if you apply a US location filter.

To better surface articles from a specific location, you can try including the location in your search terms. Alternatively, you can search for a specific news story that's similar to your campaign and was covered in the location you want to target.

Why does the tool say 'no journos found'?

This message appears when the tool cannot determine an article's author, either because no journalist information is available, or because the tool failed to extract the author (we are actively working on fixes for situations where this happens).

Encounter a "No Journos Found" message when there is a journalist? Flag it to us and ask for a manual update.

We will update the search results with the correct author and make sure the associated journalist's profile is complete.

We aim for a prompt response to manual review requests, but you can immediately search for a journalist's contact details in our database using the "Journos" menu option.

Why does the tool give me the name of the publication instead of the journalist?

Some articles list only a publication's name instead of the journalist's, so this is the information we retrieve.

However, if you come across an example where there is a journalist's name to be found, please report it for a manual update. We will update the result with the correct journalist and make sure the journalist's profile is complete.

Tip: If you prefer, you can opt to hide all the articles we haven't found journalists for by checking the 'hide articles without journos' box.

What does the purple star next to a journalist's name mean?

A purple star indicated this is the first time JournoFinder has come across this journalist and the tool automatically created a new profile for them.

Our team reviews and completes any new profiles within 24 hours.

Need the contact details sooner? Request a manual update directly from the search results or via the journalist's profile.

You can still add these journalists to your media list, and any changes we make to the profile will be reflected in your media list as soon as we make them (you'll need to refresh the page to see them).

Why do some articles have more than one journalist?

When an articles has more than one journalist assigned, this usually means more there is more than one author.

When you see an article with a large (seemingly impossible) amount of authors, check if the article is a 'live stream'. Live coverage articles tend to have a lot of contributors.

At the moment you can't chose to add just one journalist from the search result to your media list. If you want to do this, you can click on the journo and navigate to their profile. Here you can add them to any media list you want.

Note: if you come across an article where we have assigned multiple journalists by mistake, please flag this to us.

Why doesn't this journalist have any recent articles?

Not all of the journalists in our database will have example articles, or you might see articles that are a few months old.

We are a lightweight database (once of the reasons we are able to charge a lower price than competitors) and we don't have loads of web scrapers searching the web for articles by all our journalists.

Instead, if a journalist in our database appears in a user search, those articles will be assigned to their profile. So if a journalists hasn't yet appeared in a search, or hasn't appeared in one for a while you will see no or old articles.

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