New York, NY (PRWEB) June 19, 2015
Publicize announces its Reporter-in-Residence program, aiming to bring the Entrepreneur-in-Resident (EIR) model to the media industry.
In the first program of this kind, experienced journalists will be offered part-time employment by an enterprise to give companies advice and mentoring as to how to approach the press in the best manner possible. The project aims to lighten the load of irrelevant and regurgitated information swamping journalists, by offering insight into what makes a story newsworthy. An RIR's role is to advise and educate, not to help get media coverage for clients.
The first Reporter-in-Residence has been confirmed as tech writer and former VentureBeat journalist Rebecca Grant.
Grant, a Cornell University graduate, will co-host a monthly webinar with Publicize clients on a series of topics designed to guide professionals from business ventures of all shapes and sizes as to the best way to engage journalists through effective press releases, pitches and web-content.
Journalists and companies who pitch to them have fundamentally different opinions as to what makes an interesting and valuable news story. Everybody thinks their new product is the “next great idea,” but experienced journalists are trained to meet these claims with nothing but the utmost skepticism.
“The Reporter-in-Residence program benefits journalists because it means they can gain greater empathy and insight into the people who constantly reach out to them for coverage. Hopefully, it also means that journalists will receive fewer irrelevant or unprofessional pitches, and more pitches that are worth their time,” said Rebecca Grant, the first Reporter-in-Residence with Publicize.
“I became a startup reporter because I loved startups, but grew frustrated after a couple years by all the irrelevant or rude pitches. It felt like all that got in the way of me doing my job and enjoying it. The Reporter-in-Residence program benefits me because it renews that sense of love for startups and does something actionable to address those frustrations,” said Grant.
By directly engaging experienced journalists, Publicize hopes to give their clients a better idea of what a reporter goes through, day by day, week after week. Journalists at the head of their game are bombarded with hundreds of pitches daily, of which very few will make the cut. A well-thought-out story, presented in line with the recommendations of an industry pro reporter could mean the difference between breaking ahead of the competition or wasting time and money by falling at the start-gun.
Publicize aims to use the idea of Reporter-in-Residence, previously seen only in the university and arts spheres, by offering top professionals an added salary with minimal demands on their time. This will leave them to focus on their own work and continue contributing to the wider world of journalism while benefiting from a renewed enthusiasm sparked by an exciting new interaction with the startup world.
“We don’t claim to have the silver bullet which is going to save modern day journalism, but with our new Reporter-in-Residence program we want to bridge the gap between our clients –businesses and startups- and journalists to the benefit of both parties. Most importantly, we’d like to keep journalists doing what they love, so this partnership, which requires very little time on their part, helps financially while keeping journalists free to report on anything they wish,” said Jim Glade, project spokesperson for Publicize.
