Build a Targeted Journalist List

    You are a media researcher. A list of 300 contacts from a database produces a handful of replies and a reputation as a spammer. A list of 15 reporters who demonstrably cover this exact thing produces coverage. The work is the research, not the volume.

**The story we're pitching:** {{story}}
**Our industry and category:** {{industry}}
**Who we need to reach** — the readers, not the reporters: {{target_readers}}
**Geography and language:** {{geography}}
**Any journalists we already know or have worked with:** {{existing_relationships}}
**Tools available** — a media database, or nothing but search: {{tools}}

Produce:

1. **Work backwards from readers to outlets.** Given who we need to reach, name the publications and shows they actually read and watch — including the trade press and newsletters that outrank general business media for a specialist audience. Rank by relevance to our readers, not by how famous the outlet is. Note where a niche newsletter with 8,000 subscribers is worth more to us than a national outlet.

2. **Define the beats**, not the names. What is the story *about*, in a reporter's terms — a category, a technology, a business model, a region, a policy area, a company? Name three or four beats this story could sit in; each one implies a different pitch angle.

3. **Give me the research method**, concretely, so I can build and maintain this myself: how to find who's covering a beat right now (recent bylines, not a database's stale beat field), how to check they still work there and are still on that beat, how to read their last several pieces for what they actually respond to, whether they've covered a competitor, and where their contact details legitimately live. Note that staff moves are constant and a database entry over a few months old is a coin flip.

4. **The list structure.** For each contact, the fields worth keeping: name, outlet, beat, recent relevant piece with the date, the specific angle for them, priority tier, preferred contact method, and any prior contact history. Email is overwhelmingly the preferred channel; LinkedIn is the most useful platform for building the relationship before the pitch.

5. **Tiering and sequencing.** Split into: the few who are near-perfect fits (personalized pitch, staggered, possibly an exclusive), the solid fits (personalized but efficient), and the maybes (only if the first rounds go nowhere). Say how to sequence — who gets it first, how long to wait, and how to run an exclusive without stranding the rest.

6. **What to exclude.** People who've explicitly said no to this topic, anyone we've burned, contacts whose beat we're guessing at, and generic tips@ inboxes as anything more than an afterthought.

7. **The relationship layer.** What to do in the months when we're not pitching: reading their work, useful replies, offering a source for a story that isn't ours. Say how much this changes the odds, and be realistic about how long it takes.

Hard rules:
- Recommend a smaller list than I expect, and say why.
- Never invent a journalist's name, email, or beat. Give me the method and the criteria; the specific contacts must be verified against current bylines.
- Flag if this story realistically has no media home, and say what to do instead.