PBI Media, LLC
1201 Seven Locks Road, Suite 300
Potomac, MD 20854
301-354-1825
http://www.telecomweb.com
If you're looking for the best placement for your breaking business news on the telecom industry, Communications Today is it. The daily email newsletter reaches marketing
professionals, C-level execs and other senior level managers in the telecom arena. These executives rely on CT (a sister pub to PR NEWS) for the very latest news and an industry-
insider perspective. "The Web allows us to report the newest elements of those issues that are important to our readers," says Jim Rogers, senior managing editor of the Telecom
Group, which includes CT and print pubs Fiber Optics News, Broadband Business Report and Wireless Data News.
The editors are time-pressed with a daily publication, and they have high standards, but get your pitch right, and about 40,000 readers could be perusing your news.
Content/Contacts
The pub is seeking "scoops" - what Rogers describes as cutting edge, insider information on the telecom industry. CT includes succinct news reports on the most important issues
of the day, including the WorldCom debacle, the FCC's line sharing proceeding and daily updates on other controversial issues. "We told our subscribers that WorldCom was on the
brink of bankruptcy long before the company went belly-up in public," Rogers says.
- Rodney Pringle covers wireline telephony, FCC policy and federal and state legislative affairs; [email protected].
- Malcolm Spicer covers the wireless arena; [email protected].
- Debra Wayne is responsible for the fiber optics beat; [email protected].
- John Sullivan writes about broadband issues; [email protected].
- Jim Rogers is senior managing editor, and can be used as the first point of contact if you're unsure whom to pitch; [email protected].
Pitch Tips
Stick to email for these busy editors. Putting out a daily pub means hectic schedules that don't include time for phone calls. "If we need you, we'll call you. Trust us,"
Rogers promises.
The editors are particularly interested in speaking with venture capitalists since they make a living picking "the next big thing." But in any pitch, don't waste time with
small talk - just deliver your news up-front and quickly. "Time is our most valuable resource," Rogers says. "If we seem short with you, we apologize in advance - we just want to
be as efficient and fair as possible."
What not to send? The editors are well-versed in telecom technology, but are more interested in the business behind it. And if they can't figure out your techno-speak, they're
not going to run it.
Comments
The email format allows CT to be up-to-the-minute in terms of delivery. But it also limits the space available for in-depth analysis. Often editors will cover a story in brief
in CT and go into greater detail in one of their print publications.
The pub goes to press Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. Editors advise PR pros to get a pitch in their in-boxes by 9 a.m. in order to allow for a full day for consideration and
reporting. The daily slate for CT is usually set by 3 p.m.
In The Pipeline
The editors will continue to track the FCC's line sharing proceedings, as well as the fallout from WorldCom. "We're still trying to figure out who's winning the broadband wars
- the phone companies? The cable companies?" Rogers wonders.