An important reminder about ethics in journalism (oh and stories and airport updates and such!)
Hello from LGA!
It's been a glorious morning where I already had a terminal change (not a gate change but a terminal change), just as I was arriving at the airport, and I've just spent over $10 for a bagel and a small coffee. Travel is so glamorous.
(For real, I’ve missed being able to complain about this kind of stuff so much.)
It’s all good: I'm so excited that I will be in Louisville in a few hours and have tons of fun Derby plans all weekend long!
In other news, I've been hearing chatter in a few social media conversation threads I’m on and in Bryce’s sharing opps Facebook group that it seems some journalists are charging for access to the story leads they share in their Substacks. I don’t know who these people are, as I’m happy to share I’m only friends with and subscribe to people who would never do that!
(I feel inclined to use "journalists" in quote marks, since anyone who does that is not a legitimate journalist, but I'll skip that for now.)
I just wanted to take a moment to reiterate - in front of the thousands of you who are reading this - that is something that I will never charge for, and is completely unethical for anyone to charge for.
To charge for access to story leads (or as I heard someone phrase it, p2p, which is pretty accurate a way of putting it) is violation of journalistic standards, and, well, just rather shady. Also, anyone who gives preferred status to paid subscribers when it comes to being included in stories, that's ALSO shady AF. You know who gets preferred status in my stories? Those who meet my deadlines and follow instructions, and are the best fit for the topic. Full stop.
Story leads are and will always be part of my free newsletter. My optional supplemental paid newsletter is not related to story leads, but instead contains industry insights, Q&As, and other added values, such as my subscriber Zoom events -- it's essentially the type of content you'd get from a lunch & learn or consulting session, but at a fraction of the cost. Consider it along the lines of buying someone a monthly coffee to pick their brain.
Just wanted to make sure anyone who was concerned understood the distinction!
Now let's get on with it...
Freshly published stories
Food Network: Is Dr Pepper’s Dark Berry Back? It’s Complicated
Forbes: 18 Beautiful Cocktails To Enjoy With Mom This Mother’s Day
AllRecipes: The Best Drinking Glasses For All Your Beverages
TODAY.com: Celebrate Mother's Day with sweet restaurant freebies and discounts
TODAY.com: 19 spicy restaurant freebies and deals for Cinco de Mayo
As always, if you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social shares. Please remember to tag me at @alywalansky!
Here's what I'm working on:
Be sure to read the below list carefully. Many are stories I posted about yesterday, but some of yesterday's stories are no longer listed and a few new ones have been added since yesterday. This (below) is everything that is still a currently open opportunity as of today.
The Complete Guide to Keto
This is a *print* magazine to be published by Centennial Health in August 2022. I'll be working on a story on Meals for All Eaters -- How to Feed a Food-Loving Family. It's essentially advice on creating meals that allow one person to be on keto while everyone else is eating non-keto meals. Maybe adding pasta to meat and veggies, or making two easy casseroles?. I'd love to talk to an R.D. re: how to do this, and also how to balance nutrition for kids/teenagers/men and a keto dieter. I'm also going to do a sidebar on meal delivery services. Deadline for this one - June 1.
Clean Plates
For Clean Plates, I need RDs to comment asap! I'm working on a story on Ways to Make Simple 15-Minute Dinners from Trader Joe's. This can be a mix of healthy recipes and products that go together in an easy way. For instance, the TJs cauliflower gnocchi + their seriously bomb pesto = great base for a meal. (This one would be great with suggestions of adding, say, their organic green vegetable foursome and some of their frozen shrimp or chickpeas for protein). Would love RDs to comment! For guidance as to the format this story will take and the kind of comments I'm seeking, please take a look at this similar story I did recently.
RetailMeNot
For RetailMeNot, I'm rounding up Memorial Day store hours for 2022. This is the Memorial Day version of the Easter store hours story I did for them, so take a look at that one for format, but I'll have 3 sections - Stores Open on Memorial Day + Store Hours, Stores Closed on Memorial Day, Restaurants Open on Memorial Day + Hours. This Memorial Day story is an update of this piece from last year. So if you represent a store or restaurant in that story, it'd be so helpful if you can reach out with your Memorial Day info if you have it handy.
To pitch me for ANY of these stories, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com (and start a new thread, please!).
Virtual consulting sessions...
Over the last six months or so, I've popped into a fair amount of PR team meetings and made myself available to answer all sorts of questions about pitching, events, and trips from a media perspective. If you are interested in setting anything up for your own team in the coming months, please email me and we'll get something on the books!
Are you confused about affiliate marketing?
If you are having trouble learning how to navigate issues of affiliate marketing (trust me, we've all been there!), you may want to try out my friend Sarah Karger, a publicist, and former editor Dana Baardsen (and all-around fab girl!)'s Ultimate Masterclass and Introduction to Affiliate Marketing for Publicists. It's a brilliant course and it'll answer all your questions (including some you didn't know you had!)
Download the Substack App!
Good news! This newsletter is now available via app. That means you can keep up with everything you are reading from your phone. Download the app for iPhone and iPad here. For Android users, sign up for the waiting list here.
<3
aly