MS&L memo: Focus on AP
It’s not a coincidence if more MS&L Washington-based staffers are adding Associated Press journalists to their speed dials, buddy lists, and Twitter accounts.
With the local media landscape changing rapidly, pitching DC journalists can be a confusing task. With that in mind, MS&L’s DC office is advising staff members to increasingly pitch AP reporters.
“Putting on a concerted push at the AP in Washington will be a key to any media strategy, and it is important that MS&L clients meet as many of these reporters and editors as will agree to see them. It is not as prestigious as a sit-down at, say, The New York Times bureau, but ultimately it may have more impact,” said Michael Flagg, SVP at the agency, in a memo to staffers. “In one of the stranger new media developments, a television channel – CNN – has announced a competing print wire service that utilizes the same global reach AP has. That is bad news for AP, but good for MS&L clients, since the CNN service is likely to have a big Washington component, too.”
Says Flagg about Web news: “The big fish is still the conservative-oriented Drudge Report, but middle-of-the-road Politico and the left-leaning Huffington Post have a lot of visibility.”
