Episode #66: Answer a #Journorequest with Taneia Surles (Freelance Health Reporter)

“I’ll get a lot of CEO’s and founders and they don’t have any medical experience, but they might sell a medical device or own a medical facility. That’s great, but I’m looking for the people who work under them, who have medical degrees and certifications. [...] For the most part, if I’m looking for a source, they need to have some type of medical background.”

-Taneia Surles, on pitching sources for her health stories

Our guest today, a freelance health reporter, doesn't use PR pitches to write her stories. And, despite this, she still works with publicists! So how does it all work? This episode is all about the art of answering media queries. If you remember Casey's episodes, we've already talked about HARO extensively on the podcast. This week, however, we're jumping off from the #journorequest hashtag and talking about Qwoted. We're also covering lots of interesting details in between. Get an insider's look at how these different services fit in and complement one another, and walk away from this episode empowered to really take charge when you see relevant queries come in. Spoiler: our guest shares the story of receiving commentary written by ai (yes, there are tools to identify that). You won't want to miss this episode!

In this episode, you'll learn…

How a freelance health journalist lines up her stories
The current landscape of media query tools and services
Best practices for responding to these queries

Our guest is:

Taneia Surles, MPH, a freelance health writer, editor, and public health professional. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has bylines in AARP, Health, Healthline, Insider, Parents, Verywell Health, and other publications.

Love this episode? Subscribe on Apple Podcast and please leave us a review on iTunes!

Show Notes:

:00— Jackie introduces the guest.

2:15– Jackie asks Taneia if she has had good success finding sources using the #journorequest hashtag on Twitter.

3:30– Jackie asks Taneia the names of the Twitter accounts that retweet her #journorequests.

4:30– Jackie asks Britt if she recognizes Press Plugs and Media Matches brands. They check out PP.

5:22– Britt asks if she uses HARO and Qwoted as well. Taneia goes into detail about how both of these services work.

7:25– Britt mentioned her perspective on using HARO as a content creator and Qwoted as a publicist.

8:46– Jackie asks for guidelines on responding to a media query. She explains the role of DM’s vs. emails.

10:08– Jackie asks if she ever receives email via her contact box.

10:50– Jackie mentions the way freelance writers line up their stories differs by industry. She asks Taneia how she lines up her stories.

12:32– Jackie asks Taneia if in the future she may leverage PR pitches.

13:43– Britt asks how a publicist can stand out amongst a sea of media query responses.

14:35– Britt asks if a subject line format is helpful or stands out.

15:22– Jackie asks if Taneia ever gets sources that aren’t appropriate for her stories.

16:37– Britt asks if there’s a way that Taneia verifies her sources.

17:22– Britt asks how Taneia brainstorms her story topics.

19:13– Britt asks if she has a contact list of sources she’d like to reach out to again.

20:38– Britt asks if Taneia has any requirements or limitations as it relates to working with the same person again. This is where the story of how she discovered ai was used for a commentary.

25:39– Jackie asks how long Taneia has been writing professionally for and what her favorite types of stories to write are.

27:43– Britt asks Taneia what positive qualities she looks for in a publicist.

29:03– Britt asks Taneia what ways she enjoys keeping tabs with publicists.

31:06– Jackie asks Taneia what “buy me a coffee” is.

32:19– Jackie asks Taneia if she’s considered creating a newsletter.

33:49– It’s shoutout time! Taneia gives a shoutout to Eleanor from Dauntless PR.

Connect with Taneia Surles