May 28, 2004
Interview

PR Interview: How to Get Mentioned in the Rocky Mountain News Business Pages

SUMMARY: Every Saturday Denver's Rocky Mountain News publishes a 'Wall Street West' section, sent to 650,000 readers. Find out how to get your company mentioned:
Gil Rudawsky
Deputy Business Editor
Rocky Mountain News
100 Gene Amole Way
Denver, Colorado 80204
(303) 892-2562
www.denver.rockymountainnews.com
rudawskyg@rockymountainnews.com

-> Reach

650,000 circulation for Saturday's Wall Street West section
(Note: Denver ranks first in the nation's daily and Sunday penetration of newspapers to households.)

-> Rudawsky's background

Gil Rudawsky's journalism career has taken him from a cub reporter in Aspen to South Florida to Boulder, before landing him back in Denver where he grew up.

At the Rocky Mountain News, Gil worked as a reporter covering the $7 billion a year tourism industry before joining the business section. He became the deputy business editor a year ago, primarily in charge of the Wall Street West section on Saturdays.

Rudawsky is an avid road cyclist. "I ride 100 miles a week," he says. Does he ride up the mountains just west of Denver? "I try to keep to the flats these days."

-> Current editorial coverage

The business section covers news and trends, with an emphasis on the former. "If it has to do with money we cover it," he says. "If it has to do with someone in business, we try to do it not so much as a lifestyle piece but more as hard news."

Businesses from the entire state are covered, if they're big enough. Of course, "big" is relative: "On a slow news day, those numbers certainly go down," Rudawsky says. "On a busy day, it has to be something we can really hang our hat on, that means something to our readers."

National business news is covered as well if it has a local angle. "A good example has been mutual fund scandals. It's a big national issue in terms of fees and questionable trading within funds, and we have a lot of mutual fund companies in Denver," he says.

Other recent stories have included: lay-offs at Qwest, higher fuel costs, Comcast launching video on demand, home prices (because a good portion of our readers own homes, "we can't write enough about prices going up or down"), and businesses closing.

The business section runs every day, with an in-depth Wall Street West section on Saturdays.

Special features include:
--In My Office, which features a business person who has "a cool office"

--Small Business, which features single small businesses that otherwise wouldn't get coverage

--New Ventures, featuring new businesses

--Calendar of events

-> Best way to pitch Rudawsky

Email works best. Check out issues of the paper to see what reporter covers what types of stories. Then email or call the reporter directly.

(Check out http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/aboutus/contactus.shtml for phone numbers and emails)

If you're not sure who to pitch, you can always go straight to Rudawsky.

When sending a press release, include it in the body of the email. For trend stories, suggest an angle the paper might take. "It's always good if we have an angle to go for," he says. "We may not use it, but they shouldn't take that personally."

You can also pitch by phone, but make sure you don't call after 2:00 pm mountain time, when they start to hit deadline.

One follow-up call is okay. After that, "I start to get annoyed."

-> What Rudawsky looks for in a story pitch

Technology, healthcare, economy issues, and retail are big stories right now, and are likely to get coverage. If you're pitching a trend story, focusing on one of those areas is a good idea.

"Keep them simple," he says. "Focus on what the news is and why it's important to our readers, whether that's in terms of expanding a business or adding jobs or hiring new executives."

In the subject line, let him know if you're local. "I get a lot of emails from national PR firms and I need to know that it's a local company," he explains.

If you want to become a source for one of the business reporters, "Contact the reporter and take them out to lunch or coffee. Get them a business card so you're in their list of sources," Rudawsky says. "And, you know, be flexible. Some weeks are slower than others."

-> Pet peeves

#1. Calling on deadline

#2. Relentless follow-up calls "when they know I've read their pitch and I tell them I'm not going to do anything with it."

#3. Pitches with no local angle: "Those are hard to take."

#4. PR folks who aren't responsive when Rudawsky calls them, particularly if it's a story he's found on his own and not through a press release. "It's just being fair," he says. "We'll help you with your press release, but you need to help us."

-> Becoming a regular columnist

No chance, but you can get your two cents in by a Guest Opinion. Pitch your idea to Rob Reuteman, Business Editor, at reuteman@RockyMountainNews.com.

-> Prewritten contributions

The business pages don't accept them.

-> Where you can meet Rudawsky

Feel free to give him a call and ask to get together, "as long as there's no expectation," he says. "It's more for information gathering."

-> Favorite professional publication

The Wall Street Journal

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