251 W. 57th Street
New York, N.Y. 10019-1894
Phone 212/445-4000
Editor's Note: You're probably not a true PR veteran or a shoot-for-the-top PR practitioner if you don't try the occasional pitch to those in the top ranks of media. So, here's the inside track on what Newsweek editors want.
| Sections | Editors | Days to Contact/Days to Avoid | Methods | Comments |
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Periscope and Cyberscope. Periscope is a section of the magazine which focuses on off-beat topics. Cyberscope is the high-tech section. |
Editor: George Hackett, Phone: 212/445-4455 General Fax: 212/445-5068 |
Get your pitch in at the beginning of the week during morning hours. Towards the end of the week, it's more difficult to get a warm body on the other end of the phone since deadlines are on Fridays and Saturdays. | Hackett, like most editors at Newsweek, prefers pitches sent by mail or fax. And if Hackett's interested, don't worry - he'll call you. | Hackett's the kind of editor who relies on quick, succinct, targeted information from PR professionals. It's highly unlikely he'll spend time poring over your pitch since he mostly "scans" what's sent to him. |
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Society News. In this section, you'll find news about people making headlines nationwide. |
Senior Media Writer: Rich Turner Phone: 212/445-5701 Fax: 212/445-5439 |
Fax a PR plug or place a call early in the week - but don't call unless it's a breaking story. Also, keep faxes to a minimum since Turner doesn't like an "overloaded" machine. | So, here's the inside buzz: By all means don't send Turner a standard release touting something every other major news house will receive. Give him something ultra unique. | Okay, it may seem like we're beating a dead horse, but because we keep hearing the same line from editors, we're stressing it again. You're likely to make enemies if you pitch a story that isn't relevant to the industry/news genre a writer covers. |
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Lifestyles. Any kind of feature-style news may appear here, but be sure all of it has that kind of '90s quality-of-life angle. |
Senior Editor: John Capouya Phone: 212/445-4723 General Fax: 212/445-5068 |
Capouya wants PR pitches to arrive early in the week. And he absolutely won't take calls on Thursdays and Fridays because of upcoming deadlines. | Capouya prefers mail over faxes. However, he doesn't mind calls - but only if they're necessary and brief. | Capouya is one of the few editors we've spoken to who says he regularly gets story ideas from press releases, press kits and the like. But don't think that makes you a shoo-in. You've still got to deliver the goods. |