PR Pitching Tips with Reuters News Editor Martin Howell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:05 — 13.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | Email | RSS

This is an excellent interview with Martin Howell, editor-in-charge of Reuters Inc., about covering corporate corruption, citizen journalism, and the impact of SEO consultants on the business of journalism. 

If you’re in public relations and you’re interested in pitching financial news to reporters, this interview – recorded before social media for financial services became mainstream – is worth a listen.

Martin Howell is editor-in-charge of Reuters Inc., equities coverage in North and South America. He has directed much of Reuters’s corporate news coverage in the United States in the past four years, including the Enron scandal, the Internet bubble, and Wall Street deception.

He has written, reported, and edited business news throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia and managed news teams on all these continents. 

Martin is the author of Predators and Profits: 100+ Ways for Investors to Protect Their Nest Eggs, a guide for investors on uncovering the scandals that brought down Enron and Worldcom.

Financial News PR Agency Pitching Tips

4:38 – Martin Howell talks about the number one red flag investors need to watch out for to identify a looming problem in a corporation.

5:12 – Howell on why we have seen so much business corruption and fraud over the past few years. 

6:13 – Howell discusses whether people feel more comfortable investing in tech start-ups since the internet bubble has burst.

7:06 – Howell on Reuters being the most extensive global newswire service.

8:32 – Howell answers whether citizen journalism is a challenge to Reuters.

10:33 – Howell on staffed newswires vs. PR newswires. 

11:57 – Howell talks about the internet’s impact on Reuters and how he does his job.

13:01 – Howell discusses the impact of search and search engine optimization on the Reuters business model.

14:13 – Howell on whether polls on widespread consensus play a role in what Reuters decides to lead with.

15:43 – Howell talks about who his influencers are and how he decides what to write about.

16:58 – Howell on whether the Reuters market is confined to Europe: “The world is so global at the moment…if you go to China or India, for example, and you mention the word ‘Reuters,’ everyone knows it…so it’s well beyond Europe, and we have a significant presence in the U.S., and we break a lot of news here…”

18:13 – Howell offers words of wisdom to public relations agency practitioners.

19:05 – End.