“Pitch the reporters but study the analysts” has been our mantra for a while now. In that spirit, we recently checked in with Constellation Research founder R “Ray” Wang, who has been busy presenting to clients — and listening to them, too.
Imagine overseeing 350 reporters at a time like this. Business Insider global EIC Nicholas Carlson doesn’t have to imagine it because he does it every day. In a phone interview conducted Mar. 25, Nicholas (who goes by Nic) shared details galore on how BI is operating — and it’s pretty darn well given the circumstances.
Alex Wilhelm is back at TechCrunch. Four years away have changed him. “I’m in different physical shape these days,” he says from his WFH studio in Rhode Island. “I’m a lot thinner. I don’t drink anymore. I’m a less aggressive, kinder person than I was. And I know a lot more.”
Sean Michael Kerner is a B2B tech reporter, and according to his LinkedIn profile, is an “Internet consultant, a strategy and developer/writer and sometimes entrepreneur.” While Sean no longer writes for eWeek, he recently picked up freelance work at Business Insider and still writes for Enterprise Networking Planet, eSecurity Planet, ServerWatch and ITPro Today.
David Pogue is tech media’s Sgt. Pepper: the act we’ve known for all these years and guaranteed to raise a smile. After a bout of obscurity at Yahoo Tech, David is back with new columns at the New York Times and New York Magazine, increased presence on CBS Sunday Morning and a forthcoming page-turner of a book.
Security researcher Brian Krebs this month published an analysis that only he could create. It’s an exhaustive explainer on recent DNS hijacking attacks, purportedly conducted by Iranian hackers. How does a tech PR pro get the attention of this man? We asked around. Below is a compendium of what we heard back, both on and off the record.
Sometimes overlooked in the galaxy of Dow Jones edit properties is Marketwatch, and it shouldn’t be. The 21-year-old title employs roughly 50 journalists focused on markets and companies. The tech beat is covered by three reporters and a veteran columnist under the direction of technology editor Jeremy Owens.
How do you land coverage in WSJ Journal Reports? Pitch the beat reporters. “It’s hard to target these reports,” says senior editor Larry Rout. He explains that the best stories come from those with the domain expertise, be it in healthcare, energy or wealth management.
Where were you in 1981? Perhaps you were just a twinkle back then. Pat Thibodeau was a newspaper reporter in New Britain, Conn. Fifteen years later he moved to Computerworld, where he worked for more than 20 years. Now he reports for TechTarget’s HR and ERP verticals, and he believes he’s in the right place.
Industry analyst Rob Enderle starts his workday in the inbox. “I get a wave of pitches every day… a wave that breaks on me every morning,” Rob told us in a 23-minute audio interview. Can a 33-year veteran of the tech business get value from cold pitches?
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FRIDGE NOTES
Well, for now it’s Jim Jordan… but such news illustrates the kind of world we seem to be headed for. Adweek has the details, subscription required.
No “predictions” post will appear on this site. That said, quite a number of subscribers have asked for a Zoom/MS Teams presentation on what 2025 will bring. A conversation is precisely the right tool for the job. After the election — and with AI transforming publishing and life — “2025” is best discussed among peers, not predicted. So if you’d like to have a confidential group exchange on what stands to unfold, and why, and how comms pros can come out on top in spite of it all, drop a line and we shall schedule something.
According to Adweek, Omnicom CEO John Wren and IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky were in merger talks for eleven and a half months before the transaction was announced this week. Amazing that it didn’t leak.
Should PR pros stop visiting X, with all its lies and hate? It’s only going to get worse. Or are tidbits from targets too important to walk away from? Click here to watch tech edit vet David Strom and I disagree (at high speed) about this, as one compelling visual after another pops up on your screen. In 2025, SWMS will officially launch “SWMS Sound Thinking,” designed to be “argumentative insight in six minutes or less.” Each segment will explore a timely and controversial topic of interest to tech comms pros. This prototype runs 5:25. Hope you enjoy it — feedback vital and welcome! –Sam
New EIC Jamie Heller has asked her reporters to start going on camera — for the BI TikTok channel — to explain the big, deep-divey story they just published. Other publications do this — especially archival Fortune. BI is now on that too. Game on.
At this time last year, Eric Newcomer and his two podcast co-hosts — Max Child and James Wilsterman — each formed an “AI startup fantasy team” and picked five AI startups to seed their rosters. We’re now in year 2 and it’s time to draft again. The podcasters wonder… which startups do they dump? Which do they add? The player whose startups accumulate the most total value by Nov. 1, 2028 is the winner, so there’s plenty of time to make adjustments. Here’s a link to the AI fantasy team podcast — you may need a password. Not sure.
