Let's Talk HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
Horror stories from HARO Hell
Happy Monday, pitches. Did you miss me?
You can thank something called Norovirus for last Monday’s newsletter lapse. Leave it to me to not contract the virus everyone is contracting, but instead, find the hipster strain of the infection world and make it my personal business to get it.
Anyway—you’ll notice I’m trying something new by adding a subhead below: “What I’m Working on This Week.” This will be a place where I briefly call out what I’m looking for at the start of each week based on the assignments in my pipeline.
Find it helpful? Let me know! As always, feedback is encouraged and appreciated.
Is HARO (Help a Reporter Out) not relevant to you, your product, and what you pitch? No worries! Skip down for more info on what I’m looking for this week.
Let’s talk about HARO, baby!
You may have heard of or used something called HARO. It stands for Help a Reporter Out and is a platform that connects journalists with expert sources that can help bolster and verify their content.
Requests totally run the gamut. I have requested doctors who can give medical advice or debunk a health rumor, veterinarians who can apply more context to a pet-owner’s question, and professional dream analysts who can demystify nightmares.
It is helpful, but I have a complicated relationship with it. Let’s break down why.
One of the ideas behind HARO is that it’s supposed to be a fast way to get the source you need. Writers—I included—have a virtual rolodex of sources that we theoretically would go to first. Or, you know, we’d spend days doing more research on who would be a good fit. But if a deadline is looming or requires a particularly fast turnaround, it can be helpful—or really, a lifesaver—for a writer running out of time.
And quite frankly, sometimes I have a source who has agreed to comment and then last minute, bails. On my side of things, that really sucks and to my editors, makes me look bad. So, you can see the value in a digital platform that connects writers to sources—fast.
What doesn’t work
I made a HARO request once looking for 2-3 expert sources who could speak to an in-depth explainer all about gender. I got a few great responses but one terrible one stood out:
If you want to know how many genders there are, consult the Holy Bible.
Now, I’d never accuse ANYONE in PR of writing this message. Like all platforms, like all websites and social media channels, even HARO has its trolls. But damn. I’ll never forget it.
Another HARO horror story: I put out a request looking for people who have been first-hand scammed on Cash App. I did my due diligence, did some research on other sites who were exploring the topic, and read a few other articles in the same vein.
That’s why when one response came, I recognized it. Verbatim. Word. For. Word.
This person copy and pasted another article and submitted it to me on HARO as their own work. If I hadn’t known, using this person as a source would have compromised my own integrity. Not. Cool.
I confronted them; I reported them. The person responded back:
“I have some knowledge about that topic, that is why I tried to get inspiration and information from the article but the terms were too technical to rewrite my own. Sorry for this. However, to compensate for this, may I offer you a well-written article about this topic? Rest assured it will be done with the utmost care and inspiration. May I also ask you not to report this.”
No. You cannot write an article for me after you just plagiarized your entire response.
Of course, these two horror stories are truly outliers. I’m well aware that if you’re subscribed to Pitch, Please you’re likely a professional with more integrity than either anecdote portrays.
But there’s another thing that doesn’t work and it’s more common and likely more relevant to you: Not understanding the assignment.
More on that below.
How to respond to a HARO
Writers who are working on an urgent deadline, who need a source quickly, need a response that understands the assignment.
As in, make it as easy for me as possible. If I give you a very specific something, please adhere to those guidelines. Please don’t stray.
Many times I will specify in a HARO request: I need these three questions answered in your response. If you do NOT provide answers in your response, I won’t reply and your content won’t be used.
Because a lot of times, I’ll get a response from a PR person who wants to “connect me to someone who knows a lot about this subject.”
But then, when I respond, the PR person gets back to me saying never mind, the source doesn’t want to contribute.
So… now you’ve totally wasted my time.
In the words of Nene Leakes, Read, hunny.
Another common faux pas I see is someone responding to my request saying, “Hey, I don’t know anything about this, but I’m willing to offer you this instead.”
No.
And the last thing I’ll say is this: I will always prioritize sources who respond with their answers in writing. Not a phone call; not a Zoom.
Why? Because I can copy and paste the answers into the article. Because it saves me an hour of transcribing an audio interview. Because it makes things easier for me.
One more thing…
The most recent newsletter Image(ine) a World Like That talked at length about image etiquette in email pitches. It sparked some conversation and apparently my take was a hot one? Apparently it’s a little controversial?
What are your thoughts? I don’t know what every other writer out there is doing/asking for. I can only speak to what works for me and those in the industry I know and talk to. Let me know…
What I’m working on this week
As always, products with affiliate links will be given precedence.
Gifts for the Starbucks Obsessed Friend: Looking for coffee-related products or anything tangentially related to Starbucks or general coffee-drinking culture
Graduation Gifts for 8th Grade: Anything that could qualify as a graduation gift for someone in the 13 or 14-year-old age range
High School Graduation Gifts From Parents: Any gift that would be a cool, meaningful, or thoughtful present to a high school grad from their parents
Reasons for Itchy Nipples: Looking for an expert to speak to multiple medical reasons that can cause itchy nipples; must be an MD, plastic surgeon, or some kind of specialized doctor that can qualify as an “expert”
How Many Calories Do You Burn Jumping Rope?: Looking for a fitness guru/expert; a trainer, gym employee, owner of a fitness company who can answer general questions about jumping rope and what it does for your body
Feel free to email me if you have any relevant contributions to the above assignments.
See you next Monday.
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Instagram: @stephosmanski
LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/StephanieOsmanski
I read this cringing and feel for you, Steph.