👩🏻‍💻 by Hailley Griffis

One of the first things I did at my first PR job was start a media list: every outlet, reporter, and journalist I was in touch with or wanted to be. Over ten years later it’s still a simple spreadsheet, and it’s still the thing that lets me find the right reporter for a story in seconds instead of digging through old emails.

Keep your list in a tool you own. Use PR software to build it if you like, but the copy that matters should live somewhere access can’t be cut off or reorganized by a feature change.

Here’s the version that has served me for years: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lcWhuI5peSPzDkMT5MUd-Ck7Nr2WGZ8yj2k9cCWV5cU/edit?usp=sharing — File → Make a copy.

The columns

These are the eight I’d start with. Add more as you learn what matters for your outreach.

Property Type Notes
Outlet Title Publication or show
Contact Text First and last name
Beat Select What they cover — this is how you’ll search
Email Email
Social URL or text I keep a profile handle for every reporter; it’s how I build lists on social to keep up with what they’re covering
Covered before? Checkbox Warm vs. cold at a glance
Last emailed Date Update it every time you send something
Author profile URL Their page on the outlet’s site — the fastest way to see what they’ve written lately

Nice-to-haves I’ve added over time: Notes (what they’re interested in, what they’ve said no to), Status (Warm / Cold / Moved), Time zone.

How to build it out

  1. Start with reporters who’ve already covered you. You have their details, and they’re warm contacts — tick “Covered before?”.
  2. Add reporters you’d like to cover you. When you read an article that could have featured your company, or a story similar to one you’d pitch, add the writer. Maybe there’s a fit down the line.
  3. Add every reporter who reaches out to you. Inbound is the easiest list-building there is.
  4. Add as you research a launch. Every time you’re checking whether a story fits an outlet, the reporters you find go in.
  5. Update “Last emailed” every time. This column is the whole point during a busy launch.
  6. Keep it current. Reporters move outlets. When you spot someone go from one publication to another, update the row rather than adding a duplicate.

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