Have you ever tried to get your name, brand, blog, or pizza place in the press to no avail? If you don’t know the right people, protocols, and tricks of the trade, your chances of getting a mention in the media decreases dramatically. ANIMAL has decided to sacrifice itself and publish some ‘pitch tips’ we got hold of from a major music magazine’s PR department. We hope to help the little guy and provide all the tips you could ever need to pitch some of NYC’s influential journalists and UP your chances of grabbing those 15 minutes. We figure some blog out there can summarize this stuff, but we wanted to provide all the juicy and sordid details in full. After the jump (and in great length) read why you should never ever call media reporter Keith Kelly at 5:30pm, that Page6′s Richard Johnson gravitates towards items like money, sex, and violence, as well as host of other insidery tidbits that will help make you a Howard Rubenstein in no time. Complete with phone numbers, telecopier codes, and most importantly, emails! Only in NY kids, only in NY.

Here it is, in no particular order:
NY Post
Name: Richard Johnson
Phone: 212 930 8621
Fax: 212 930 8280
Email: rjohnson@nypost.com
Pitch tips: Monday – Friday
Preferred order: Phone
He oversees Page Six, a daily column that has been referred to by Arena magazine as a column that can “launch a bestseller, break a contract, fill a restaurant – even end a marriage.” The main thing to get coverage is to have a good story. If it takes more then 10 seconds to explain, forget it. It should involve a business, political, religious, criminal, or entertainment celebrity, not necessarily in NY. He likes to hear about titans of industry and top level businessman as well as on pop stars. If you are a regular reader of the column, you will notice there is a mix of subject matter and that the items have a plot. One of his favorite items was one about a tattoo of former Secretary of State George Shultz. It must exclusive and either funny, naughty, odd, a second act or closely tied to the headline news of the day. Most of the items he runs involve either sex, money or violence.
NY Post
Name: Keith Kelly
Phone: 212 930 8702
Fax: 212 930 8280
Email: kkelly@nypost.com
Pitch tips: Monday –Friday, 10am – 6pm.
Preferred order: email, fax, phone, mail
Do no EVER call him at 5:30 to just shoot the breeze. That is when he is on deadline. It’s imperative that he receives story pitches before a regular story meeting at 12:30pm. Phone calls are allowed for breaking news, but all other pitches need to be directed to him by e-mail. Use common sense when it comes to deciding on whether something is breaking news. Accepting responsibility for a scandal, switching CEO’s or signing a hot author are all acceptable examples of breaking news. In other words, know what he covers. A new advertising representative in Michigan is not. His column is driven by exclusives revolving around personalities in magazine and book publishing. He is not as interested in the publishing business as he is in the controversies and egos involved. He is also not interested in quarterly business reports or trade-interest information. Give him gossip about competitors, news of impending shake-ups and hints of editorial movements. Tell him about the stuff that doesn’t involve a client, because that will help build a relationship with him. The worse thing a PR person can do is avoid him when your client gets into a bad situation. Trying to dissuade him will only turn him onto the story more. Please do not waste his time with lunch meetings with your client where he is nothing but an “audience of one.”
Bio: He has been ratting out his fellow reporters as a Media Business Reporter with the NYP since 1998. Before that, he worked at rival NYDN, Advertising Age, and Folio: First Day. He started as a media reporter in 1988 with Magazine Week as New York Editor and the moved on to become Editorial Director. He was also a freelance writer for O’Dwyers and a Police Reporter for some weekly papers in Suffolk County, New York.
New York Post
Name: Tim Arango
Phone: 212 930 8271
Fax: 212 930 9290
Email: tarango@nypost.com
Pitch tips: He covers media business, focusing on the music industry and big media conglomerates. Contact him by phone or email. Pitches must be business-related for him to consider. He is interested in topics such as media personalities, movie studios, celebrity contracts and record deals. Ant news affecting the broad media sector is of interest to him. He would like to hear about programming-related information about cable companies, the downturn in the music industry, piracy and trends in the consolidations of media conglomerates. PR pros should build editorial rapport to develop a long term relationship with him. Be familiar with the types of stories he writes.
Bio: He jointed the NYP as a media business reporter in October 2002 and has since broken stories about Def Jam and Disney. He previously worked at TheStreet.com covering retail business before joining the Post.
New York Times
Name: David Carr
Phone: 212 556 3629
Fax: 212 556 1626
Email: carr@nytimes.com
Pitching tips: Preferred order: email
He covers magazines, media business and publishing. His magazine coverage is primarily concentrated on highly circulated consumer publications. He would prefer all contact be via e-mail.
Bio: He jointed the Times in 2002. He previously worked as a media editor at Inside.com, Senior editor at Brill’s Content, EIC of Folio and a reporter at Adweek and Mediaweek. He was also the ‘Off the Record” media columnist for the New York Observer.
Daily News
Name: Mr. Paul Colford
Phone: 212 210 6359
Fax: 212 643 7826
Email: pcolford@edit.nydailynews.com
Pitch tips: His column is news oriented and less gossipy than other media news columns in NY.
Bio: He jointed the Daily News as “Hot Copy” columnist and media reporter in 2000, after more then 20 years at Newsday as feature write and media columnist and a shorter stint at New York Newsday. He freelanced for the NYT and while in college and covered NJ for the paper when he graduated in the mid-70’s. He is the author of “The Rush Limbaugh Story: Talent on Loan From God, an “Unauthorized Biography: and “the King of all Media: The Unauthorized Biography of Howard Stern.”
Daily News
Name: Lloyd Grove
Phone: 212 210 1647
Fax: 212 643 7832
Email: lgove@edit.nydailynews.com
Bio: He joined the NYDN in 2003. Before that, he wrote the “Reliable Source: gossip column in the Styles section of the Washington Post. He worked at the Post from 1980 – 2003, working as a features writer, theater critic, campaign reporter, and style reporter before becoming the Gossip columnist in 1997. He also worked as Corpus Christi Caller-Times and the Dallas Morning News.
Daily News
Name: Joanna Molloy
Phone: 212 210 2374
Fax: 212 643 1637
Email: jmolloy@edit.nydailynews.com
Pitch tips: Monday-Friday 11am – 8pmhttp://www.animalnewyork.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi#
Preferred order: phone, e-mail, fax, mail
During the hours of 4pm and 7pm EST phone pitches are not ideal, she is on deadline.
Bio: She jointed the Daily News in 1993 and covered the night police beat before writing the celebrities column. She previously worked at the NYP.
Advertising Age
Name: Claire Atkinson
Phone: 212 210 0169
Fax: 212 210 0200
Email: catkinson@crain.com
Pitch tips: In addition to her work reporting for this publication, Claire also contributes to the online extension of Advertising Age, Madison & Vine. Here she reports on Advertising agencies and the PR field in general. Establish a relationship with her to get further. She wants to have a rapport with the PR contacts she uses and needs there to be a balance of give and take. She tends to work closer to those PR pros who have enough contacts to pass on good gossip and not just a plain press release. Also, please don’t set up group conference with her. If an interview is set up it should be one on one and exclusive. Conference calls beget confusion from too many people talking and are impersonal. She also ask the pitches to be idea-focused. Do not pitch clients. She instead needs to know why readers would be interested in what you are pitching and how they would benefit from knowing about the information. She stands firm on what she is looking for and what she will write about. Angry and/or persistent phone calls and emails will not help the situation.
Bio: Prior to taking her current position as reporter for Advertising Age in December 2002, Claire was a freelancer for 3 years in the UK, writing for the UK edition of Entertainment Weekly, The Express, The Independent, and the Observer, among others. Before that, she was an associated editor in London for UK’s edition of Mediaweek.
Good Morning America
Name: Mark Bracco
Phone: 212 456 5988
Fax: 212 456 5962
Email: mark.bracco@abc.com
Pitch tips: Preferred order: e-mail.
He looks for unique stories and ideas. If it has good visuals and is off the beaten track of ideas he might go for it. Celebrities, motion pictures and pop culture topics are all under his jurisdiction. Music topics from the worlds of rock, pop, classical, country, and opera are also welcome as performers. It’s important to help them set up your idea or guest as the process evolves as opposed to just dropping something in their lap. They take their time when evaluating pitches so don’t harass them with phone calls or queries after you do your initial suggestions. E-mail is the preferred method of contact. The lead-time can be extensive so get an early jump.

Media Industry Newsletter
Name: Steven Cohn
Phone: 212 621 4874
Fax: 212 621 4879
Email: scohn@pbimedia.com
Pitch tips: Monday-Friday 8am-6pm
Preferred order: phone, email, fax, mail.
Keep him informed of developments at consumer magazines and other media, if related. Have a ‘hook’ that will make him bite. Queries should be targeted especially for their readers. Please just provide the facts.
Bio: Steven became editor of MIN in June 1986, and was promoted to EIC in September 1998. From 1983-1986, he served as managing editor of Optometric Management.
Mediaweek
Name: Lisa Granatstein
Phone: 646 654 5257
Fax: 646 654 5368
Email: lgranatstein@mediaweek.com
Pitch tips: Monday-Friday 9am-6pm
Lisa is interested in issues that concern magazine publishing industry, particularly affecting large companies like Time Inc., Conde Nast, Hearst and Gruner + Jahr. Remember that she covers consumer magazine publishing with a focus on advertising. Do NOT pitch her anything outside this realm. Its also important to note that she is looking for SIGNIFICANT changes as t a magazine. When leaving her voicemails, keep it short. Any story should be pitchable in 30 seconds or less. Also, do NOT follow up an email with an immediate phone call. She will call is she’s interested in a story.
The Washington Post
Name: Howard Kurtz
Phone: 202 334 7420
Email: kurtzh@washpost.com
Bio: He’s been with the Washington Post since 1981 and has covered the media since 1990. He broke the story about NYT reporter Jayson Blair. He previously covered Urban Affairs, the Justice Department, and Capitol Hill and was the NY Bureau chief. He also worked for the Washington Star. His recent book, “Hot Air: All Talk, All the Time,” chronicled the explosion of talk-shows on television and radio. His writing has appeared in The New Republic, Washington Monthly, and NY magazine. He’s also served as a co-host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”
Volume 2 to come soon!