HARO’s Transition and the New Era of Media Relations Platforms

Written By

Coyne Public Relations, LLC

This insights post is a summary of the blog post published by Coyne Public Relations. View the full post at: Goodbye, HARO: Say Hello to the New Era of Media Relations Platforms.

With Cision’s shift from Help A Reporter Out (HARO) to Connectively, we are again trying to answer an age-old question: what’s the best way for brands and PR professionals to connect with journalists?

It used to be pretty straightforward – send an email or use platforms like HARO. However, journalists are tasked with generating a lot of stories in the digital age.  Now, thanks to AI, getting in touch with them quickly and efficiently is crucial. Public Relations professionals are now challenged with figuring out where to share these opportunities.

While AI has brought a lot of new possibilities, it’s also introduced some issues including a spike in fake editorial requests and false information on query-based platforms. This rash of unreliable information has led to distrust, making journalists look for alternatives. As a result, new platforms have popped up to solve this industry-wide problem.

So, where is everyone headed? Many writers are leaving the usual spots and moving to new, lesser-known platforms for their editorial requests – and some of them might be completely new to you.

To nail this down, Coyne tuned in to a webinar hosted by Alesandra Dubin, one of MuckRack’s top 10 most viewed freelance journalists this year, on where to find open press opportunities.

• Help Every Reporter Our (HERO): If you loved HARO, now there’s HERO. Taking a back-to-the-basics approach, Peter Shankman, founder of HARO, created the new platform using a similar daily email format to help both journalists and sources connect around the world. The platform is completely free and you can sign up as a source here.
• Connectively: As HARO was being phased out, you may have seen less queries than before as Connectively officially transitioned on April 2. So, if you were a HARO user, you’ll need to create a new account.
• Press-Pulse AI: If you don’t feel like digging through media opportunities yourself, this can do it for you! Leaning into the benefits of AI and powered by GPT-4, this platform narrows down relevant queries to pitch, finetuning as you go. It sources from Connectively, using AI for streamlined email newsletters that notifies users of opportunities based on a set of provided background information.

Don’t miss the insights on other media platforms from the team at Coyne in: Goodbye, HARO: Say Hello to the New Era of Media Relations Platforms.