Finding phone numbers and email addresses for journalists can be really frustrating. It’s almost as if we don’t want to be found. I had an experience last week that I hate to imagine your audience having. I wanted to email a journalist, so I went to his news organization’s website to find contact information. The Contact Us page had only a general form, with options to have your message go to different departments (circulation, obituaries, etc.). No names. No direct info. So I played detective and guessed what it might be (first initial, last name, url, perhaps?), then googled that potential email address. Voila! Your community members probably don’t know how to do that, and they shouldn’t have to. In this scenario, they would most likely just give up, and they would leave with the sense that you don’t actually want to hear from them. More from this edition can be found here and to receive the tips in your inbox each week click here.
