400 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215.854.2000
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/
The Wind-Up
Founded in 1829, where the First Amendment was born, The Philadelphia Inquirer is the nation's third oldest surviving daily, and serves America's fourth largest metropolitan
area. But pedigree doesn't guarantee prosperity, and size doesn't ensure survival.
With a subscriber footprint covering nine counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, circulation growth is a constant battle with 15 daily suburban newspapers. While the
national trend for major urban dailies is clearly heading south, The Inquirer, published by Knight Ridder, has posted gains for the past several quarters, and at last report, the
readership numbers stood at 387,000 daily and 768,000 on Sundays.
The Pitch
Business Editor Mary Flannery's job is to make the section a must-read by "owning the business news in the region." She demands her staff of 29 reporters, editors and
columnists write stories that "put the reader on the playing field." Local features and national news briefs are done daily, and important stories appear regularly on the front
page. Copy deadline is 5 p.m. and taboo times for calling during weekdays are: 10:30 - 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 -3:30 p.m. All Inquirer reporters are amenable to offbeat stories so
when your CEO's ready to bet the company, give them a call. But Flannery cautions, "We pick our spots, and unless it's a huge national consumer company or product that competes
with our regional heavy hitters such as Campbell Soup and Comcast, we generally aren't interested." The finance, healthcare, and technology issues coverage is deep with several
reporters assigned to each beat. Use e-mail to approach Todd Mason, [email protected], for banking and finance; Karl Stark, [email protected], for healthcare and Akweli Parker, [email protected], for tech
pitches. Parker's current interests are broadband and Wi-Fi, so if you're got a new tech gadget or SoHo software, try columnist John Fried, who like most Inquirer columnists,
generally works "off the news."
When pitching a columnist, stress the angle on how your company or client fits into the big picture. When you have an "impact player" (read: expert, accessible, and quotable)
who knows capital gains, dividends, corporate governance, or the business issue du jour, fire off a short e-mail as the first step. Personal finance columnist Jeff Brown, [email protected] writes for the Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday editions. Andy Cassel, [email protected] covers the economy and runs on Wednesday and Friday. John Fried's, [email protected] riffs and rants on technology appear on Thursday and Sunday. Flannery says, "In your initial e-mail query, write
tight and limit it to three or four paragraphs so a reporter can digest the information quickly and discuss it with the editors. When there's interest we'll follow-up, usually
within a day."
The Follow-Through
From her days on the sports beat, Flannery knows franchise players who hit 30 homers a year get the money and the glory, but good utility players are the backbone of baseball.
She feels the same about journalism - and communications executives. "Most could work at improving their on-base percentage instead of always swinging for the fences," she says,
adding: "Study our lineup and know our roster so you're pitching to the right catcher. If it's time sensitive, but not market moving news, send a press release, or put it on PR
Newswire. Then send a quick e-mail notice to day editor Paul Schweizer, [email protected], or night editor Rhonda Dickey,
[email protected], but avoid follow-up phone calls."