How to create specific lists of journalists or outlets

When you have a pre-prepared list of journalists or outlets which you would like to your regular contact lists or a Media Database list, here are some helpful tips and tricks:

1. Make sure you start in advance. Doing targeted searches and hand picking the right contacts can take quite some time. The bigger the list, the more time you should reserve for this.
   
   
2. If you want to create a list of contacts from a niche group but you do not know exactly which ones: Google, similar search engines, and even ChatGPT can help you prepare a list in advance. Type what you are searching for in either search engines and copy-paste your preferred results into a spreadsheet or document.
   For ChatGPT we strongly recommend to double check the outcome and to never blindly trust on the results.
   Example: When you are looking for local outlets in your country, use this sentence, or a combination of these search terms in the search engines:
   Local outlets based in the Netherlands and their generic email address.
   
   
3. Keep in mind when you have a target list, you have to do different searches to get to your desired media database list. You can add journalists and outlets from different search results onto one or more media database list(s).
   
   
4. In the Media Database there are different ways of searching for journalists and outlets. We recommend using all three options if you are targeting a list of journalist and outlets to get the best results:
   • Under ‘Search for Persons’ you can use the filters under ‘Search for Outlet’.
   • Alternatively, you can switch to ‘Search for Keywords’ or ‘Search for Specific Person’ and manually enter the search terms into the text field.
     
     
5. To add journalists to your media database list:
   • Often you get a big list of results. You can deselect all the journalists and manually select the journalists you would like to add to your list. Once you have selected all the journalists you want, add them to your media database list. Repeat this process until you have found all the journalists on your target list.
     
     
6. To add general email addresses from the outlets to your contact list:
   • Search for your desired outlet. The database will only give you journalists as results, but in the column ‘Outlet name’ you can click on the outlet to go to the Outlet Detail page. Under ‘Outlet Information’ you can find the Email(s).
   • These addresses cannot be imported in a media database list. Instead, you can copy the email address into a sheet. When you have found all the outlet email addresses, you can export the spreadsheet list as CSV, and upload the CSV file into your own contact lists.