7 Steps to Receive Targeted News Releases

Can we all agree that spam emails are the worst?

Unfortunately, journalists too often are the victims of receiving unsolicited news stories. According to findings in Cision’s 2020 State of the Media Report, nearly half of reporters receive more than 50 pitches each week. And only 1% of respondents say that 75%-100% of the pitches they receive are relevant to their work.

So how is a journalist supposed to sift through potentially hundreds of emails to find the types of stories they’re looking for? If you’re wondering how to receive press releases that meet your needs, we can help.

Registered users of PR Newswire for Journalists can customize their newsfeed(s) with the specific industries, subjects, and geographic regions they want. They’re also able to set a delivery schedule and receive the release format that works best for them.

PR Newswire for Journalists newsfeeds are completely in the control of the journalists, freelancers, and bloggers.

Looking for general consumer news coming out of North America? Easy. What about new technology product announcements in Latin America? No problem. Setting up a profile that’s tailored to your specific needs can be done in a few easy steps.

Ready to get started?

How to create your targeted newsfeed

1. If you are new to the site, you will be prompted to create a newsfeed once you log in.

2.  If you’ve already created a newsfeed and want to adjust it or create a new one, click on “Edit My Profiles” in the drop-down menu beneath My PR Newswire at the top of the page.  

3.  From here, choose a newsfeed to edit or scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Create new profile.”

4.  Give your newsfeed a name and click the YES bubble in the “Send to this email?” section. Selecting YES turns on push emails. Don’t want emails? That’s OK, you can choose NO if you don’t want to receive email notifications; the profile will still update and you can view the latest results whenever you log in.

5.  Tell us how often you want to receive news from us. This can be daily, weekly, or in real time. Also, let us know if you want full text, abstracts, or only headlines.

6.  Select the type of news you want by keyword, company, industry, subject, geography, and/or language. We’re always working to add relevant industry and subject codes to help you better target your release results.

We recently added new codes including Artificial Intelligence, Fitness/Wellness, Supply Chain/Logistics, Men’s Interest, and more.

7.  Click “Create Profile” and voila! You will receive news releases from PR Newswire on the days and times you selected.

Helpful Tips

• Separate keywords with a space or comma. Phrases can be separated by the “Tab” key.
• Newsfeed fields (industry, subject, keywords, geography, etc.) operate with an AND relationship. Keep this in mind if you’re making selections in multiple fields. Our team can help you streamline your search.
• Don’t forget to select a language!

Creating your personal newsfeed weeds out the stuff you don’t want and delivers the items you do. If you switch beats or switch jobs, no problem. Newsfeed profiles can be changed at any time.

If you need assistance setting up a newsfeed or with other PR Newswire services for journalists, email media.relations@cision.com for a personal walkthrough.

(Note: This post is an updated version of one originally published in 2018.)

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Rocky Parker works in Audience Relations at PR Newswire. Check out her previous posts for Beyond Bylines and connect on LinkedIn. When she’s not working, Rocky typically can be found cooking, binge watching a new show, or playing with her puppy, Hudson.