20 Things I Learned from the Boston Business Editors

The last program for the Publicity Club of New England occurred June 14 at Cambridge’s Sheraton Commander Hotel. The “Meet the Business Editors” event was moderated by Tina Cassidy of Solomon McCown & Company and panelists included Eric Convey, managing editor of the Boston Business Journal; Shirley Leung, assistant managing editor/business of The Boston Globe; and Frank Quaratiello, business editor at the Boston Herald. Despite two additional panelists missing, the program was fantastic, very informative and smarter questions posed unlike past events.

For the 40 or so attendees, a boatload of knowledge was shared. Here’s a few items learned, but I strongly recommend attending another Pub Club event so you gain your own data and meet the journalists after the meeting.

1. All CEOs should be trained to speak in front of a Flip camera as newspapers incorporate more video.
2. Don’t go to an editor after a reporter said no.
3. Pitch one department at a time.
4. Don’t pitch the Boston Globe and Boston Herald at the same time. Outlets won’t cover if you’re pitching the same angle. Each wants a story first.
5. No longer are there exclusives. It’s a 24-hour news cycle. Once an outlet has a story, it can be up on a website within minutes.
6. Leung receives over 5000 emails. She dislikes mass pitches and screens her calls.
7. If Quaratiello says on the phone that he thinks your story is a good idea and to send an email, he’s probably trying to communicate that he’s not interested and just being polite.
8. Think of the Boston Globe and Boston Herald has a radio and a TV station. The ability to now post multimedia like videos can make a story come alive
9. Convey is running the Boston Business Journal website. He likes when there’s a link in a press release to logos, or having a package of material ready to go to accompany a pitch.
10. Quaratiello doesn’t use Twitter and Leung has a love/hate relationship with it.
11. Boston Herald is looking for new industry experts.
12. Boston Business Journal’s sister publication Mass High Tech is more interested in start up and emerging companies.
13. Boston Herald receives little snail mail.
14. Know the publication and its sections.
15. After 3pm, reporters and editors are on deadline. Don't waste their time.
16. Develop relationships with beat reporters.
17. Sending out a press release doesn’t mean a PR person’s day ends at 5pm. It means being available even at 9pm. Even clients should be accessible at all hours for a quote.
18. Pitch freelancers because often they can generate new ideas and have less on their plate.
19. The Boston Globe once had 30 business reporters and now has 15 reporters, 5 editors, a smaller paper and less space.
20. Convey says that writing in a email subject line “Story Idea” probably is not going to motivate him to open your pitch. Every email is a story idea.

-Maryanne Keeney, www.mkpr.net, @mayne