A recent survey found that 98 percent of Latin American newspaper editors say they closely monitor U.S. business trends and markets, but only 18 percent are contacted by PR professionals from the United States. "Media Relations Opportunities," sponsored by WORLDCOM and conducted by Bitner.com, found an untapped media well in phone interviews with 57 business editors in 19 Latin American countries.
"We have, up until now, underestimated the accessibility and interest of Latin American media," says survey designer Gary Bitner. "We have always assumed technological inferiority to the United States, but that just isn't the case. Eighty-four percent of surveyed publications maintain Web sites and 91 percent use email."
Also from the survey:
- Spanish is not required. Most newspapers say receiving news in English poses no problem.
- Call before noon local time and ask for a specific reporter, since almost 80 percent of publications assign beats.
- Editors say their most important beats are banking, financial and general economy, with tourism and retail not far behind.
- Latin American journalists and editors rely on the same wire services as U.S. journalists.
(Dominique Palumbo for WORLDCOM, 212/840-1661.)