Following on from our previous post Five ways journalists use ResponseSource you probably haven’t thought of, here’s a few more.

Places to film or photograph an interview

If you’re looking for somewhere interesting for the background of a video interview (like a factory or office) or a photogenic setting like a hotel or shop for a photoshoot, you can ask for this under the ‘Location or venue’ option. They’ll get some publicity and you’ll get some more visuals to help your story stand out – with the advantage that the venue or their PR may promote the finished piece to their own audiences, giving your hard work a wider reach.

Making the most of your time at events and press trips

Time out of the office at events or on press trips is rarer than ever and you want to get as many stories and contacts out of it as possible. Many journalists send out a request when they’re headed to a trade event or have a press trip already planned. You could let PRs know that you’ll be at a certain event and happy to meet for a coffee or briefing, and those 20 minutes (or lunch…) could of course lead to a story. Alternatively an “I’m headed to Coventry in February – where should I go, any clients who have something there I should take a look at” can make your trip much more productive (note: you do not have to be headed to Coventry in February to use this suggestion).

Lining up those Q&A/top tips you can never get enough of

Some users get great, and almost instant results from a request like “We’re always looking for directors/technicians/retailers for our regular interview slot – answer the following…”. You can include your regular questions and specifications on word length, images, biography etc in your request, ask PRs to get their clients to answer them and send them back with an image and background, ready for you to schedule. Its a great way of lining up content weeks or months in advance.

Lining up a bank of experts that you can call on directly

It’s always useful to have people on hand who can deliver balance to a story with comment or an expert view. Having a medical doctor, lawyer, analyst or similar expert on hand to comment on relevant stories can really speed up the process to produce balance copy. Requesting access to experts and keeping their details on file for future stories is another great way the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service is used.

Getting contributed pieces from experts

Many media outlets include contributed articles from people in their industry. Journalists are often pitched with such content but sending a journo request stating exactly the sort of contributed article you are looking for is more likely to result in copy that suits your readership.

We’ve covered ten ways journalists use journalist requests you probably haven’t heard of in this post and the previous one – but there are no doubt even more!