Peter Shankman launched something really, really interesting to me today at HelpAReporter.com.
The premise: He works in PR and has a list of reliable and credible sources a mile long; his reporter friends are constantly asking him who they should call about [your story topic here].
Check it out, sign up, and maybe you can help a reporter out. Or maybe you’re looking for a certain sort of source. Let Peter know what you’re looking for, and maybe he knows someone who can help.
I’m totally engrossed by this for reasons obvious to anyone who has been following my work (more talk than anything else so far – I promise April and May will involve actual code, announcements, etc.) on ReportingOn.
Any way to use social networking (it’s made of people, eh?) to connect reporters with better sources is something worth tracking.
(Of course, I heard about this on Twitter. Follow me, follow ReportingOn, and follow Peter.)
Ryan Sholin 
Ryan
I’m very interested in Reporting On – I read the post on Journalism.co.uk, and think the idea is intriguing – how do you get around the idea of reporters being competitors, though?
I also thought you might be interested in a blog I’ve launched along very similar lines to HelpaReporter – we had a Facebook group for reporters seeking case studies and now a blog at http://gettingink.typepad.com/journos
We’re finding already (though it’s only been up about a month) that requests are reaching people who can’t afford the fees for commercial services, including start-ups, freelancers, regular internet users, charities, government agencies and more – as well as the big PR agencies that use the likes of Profnet and Response Source.
Of course, we’re focusing mainly on the UK market but I do think it’s interesting how journalists can take social media tools to make the process of reporting more direct, and more democratic.
Sally
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I LOVE HARO!
I read your article on (HARO) Help A Reporter Out. I created a video on the subject and I thought I would send it. Here is a blip.tv rendition http://www.creativeendeavors.blip.tv/#1123448 or a You Tube version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23biQbZjWBk that you can share with your readers and even embed in your blog. Each give you code to do just that.
GO HARO!
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