Journalist reveals how she handles HARO responses

Freelance writer tells why some ‘Help A Reporter Out’ queries make the cut—and others get trashed on sight

The mainstream media are dying. Or, so I hear. If they are, I don’t notice. Assignments are flowing, deadlines looming and HARO responses are flooding in. On average there are 35-40 responses to my HARO requests; only three to seven are needed for any given story.

Here’s how I choose which sources make it to my article—and what I do with the leftovers.

E-mail, please

The most HARO responses I have received on a single request was 147, for a story I was writing on social media. The fewest was 16, for an article on health care. I have to use a minimum of three unrelated sources in any given story and no more than nine (such are the rules of journalism; the total number used is directly related to the length of the story).