SATELLITE NEWS
Phillips Business Information, Inc.
1201 Seven Locks Road, Suite 300;
Potomac, Md. 20854; 301/340-7788
Editor's Note: The "Satellite 98 Conference" just wrapped up in Washington, D.C. so we felt this was a perfect time to focus on trade publications devoted to this industry. In this week's Media Insight, we focus on two of PR NEWS's sister publications: Satellite News, a weekly newsletter; and Via Satellite, a monthly magazine.
| Sections | Editors | Days To Contact/ Days to Avoid | Methods | Comments |
| Satellite News. This 10-page newsletter covers the satellite industry from a business vantage point. What's germane to Satellite News is the how and the why of a story. Satellite News dips its nose into analyses of the impact of satellite launches; companies which rebounded from losses; alliances overseas; blows to competitors; and regulatory issues. |
Editor, Sam Silverstein, Fax: 301/424-2709, E-mail: ssilverstein @phillips.com |
It is best to contact Silverstein in the late afternoon on Friday or any time Monday and Tuesday. His deadline is around 1 p.m. Friday. |
Silverstein wants faxes or e-mail. Snail mail isn't the way to go unless you have a stack of materials that must be delivered. |
"One of my pet peeves is PR people who don't put dates on releases," Silverstein cautions. "Or they send out releases for products, which aren't new, by just re-issuing press releases with a new date." Silverstein also says that of the more than 150 pitches he receives each week, "if 10 percent are relevant, that's a big deal." |
VIA SATELLITE
Phillips Business Information, Inc.
1201 Seven Locks Road,
Potomac, Md. 20854; 301/340-7788
Editor's Note: This four-color, glossy magazine generates about 70 percent of its coverage from freelancers around the globe. It pushes the content envelope in a way that Satellite News doesn't because its articles provide a historical look, sometimes with a flash of the minutiae.
| Sections | Editors | Days To Contact/ Days to Avoid | Methods | Comments |
| Via Satellite. The cover story for the March issue provides more than a peek into the Latin American Satellite Market, with a microscopic look at how predictions for this region have seen the light of day. Along with features, the magazine dishes up a "For The Record" section about recent launches and contracts; a calendar; an "Industry at Large" installation which touches on executive moves; and "Services" and "Web Directory" listings. | Managing Editor, Katie McConnell, Fax: 301/340-0542 | Deadlines are the third or fourth week of every month. However, McConnell stresses that reporters, freelancers and writers face daily deadlines as well because they typically work on stories three months in advance. Of all the media operations we've approached, these folks are among the most well-travelled because much of their editorial expertise lies in trade show and conference coverage. | Faxes are OK and phone calls fine if you're in a pinch. But the way to make yourself indispensable to McConnell is to use FedEx. Include a diverse and broad sampling of art: transparencies, slides or photos. She doesn't like downloading pictures off the Web because the quality usually is poor. | It's rare that we come across editors who crave pictures the way McConnell and her staff do. But because Via is a magazine, photos are a must and an area where they want to close the PR/editorial content gap. "My biggest headache is fnding art," McConnell says. "Whether we cover your company can sometimes rest in the difference between a release we get about a great product that comes with no visuals versus a story about a good product that comes with great art." |
Editorial Contacts At Satellite News and Via Satellite Magazine
Main Number - 301/340-7788
Satellite News
Managing Editor - Ellen Mullally, 301/340-7788 ext. 2048
Editor - Sam Silverstein, 301/340-7788 ext. 2085, [email protected]
Contributing Editors - Gordon Masson, 301/340-7788 ext. 2135 Paul Dykewicz, 301/340-7788 ext. 2024
Via Satellite
Editor/Associate Publisher - Cynthia Boeke, 301/340-7788 ext. 2460
Managing Editor - Katie McConnell, 301/340-7788 ext.4360
Associate Editor - Rob Fernandez, 301/340-7788 ext. 2720
News Editors - Gordon Masson, 301/340-7788, ext. 2135 Sam Silverstein, 301/340-7788 ext. 2085
Regular Contributing Writers - James Careless, 613/247-7141 Stephane Chenard, 33 1 4923 7503 Robert Wold, 714/363-0993 Gerald Oberst Jr., 32 2 505 0911 Marc Crossman, 212/667-7042