Media relations services
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Media relations services earn coverage by pitching the right journalists, announcing real milestones, and answering reporters who are already looking for sources.
Susan von Seggern developed a four-part framework for today's media landscape: sustained media outreach, press releasing, lead service monitoring, and events. It reflects decades of keeping up with new PR trends and methods, from podcast pitching to hyper-local coverage.
They involve four kinds of daily work. First, identifying target outlets and contacts and pitching them, including podcasts. Second, writing and distributing releases for significant milestones. Third, monitoring journalist requests and pitching matches. Fourth, using events to put clients in front of the press.
Each pillar reaches journalists differently. Outreach is proactive, releases are formal announcements, lead monitoring is reactive to what reporters want right now, and events are face to face. Together they cover most of the ways coverage actually happens.
Procedure
Identify target outlets and contacts, then pitch for coverage, including podcast pitching and hyper-local press.
Announce significant milestones through an exclusive or pre-brief, then email servicing, then a newswire if budgeted.
Watch five lead service feeds daily, plus journalist emails and Substacks, and pitch requests that match the client.
Large celebrity and media events, small media intro events, sponsorships, conference exhibits or talks, gifting events and gift bags.
Evidence
Milestones go out through an exclusive or pre-brief model, then email servicing, then a newswire if budgeted. Susan recommends Business Wire for its respectability and has an annual deal with it that she says significantly saves clients money versus one-off releases on Business Wire or other wires.
Susan monitors five lead service feeds every day, plus emails and Substacks from journalists seeking leads directly. Pitching contacts who have already asked for a client's expertise has produced coverage in Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, the New York Times, HuffPost, Best Life, and many other outlets.
Figures as stated on susanvonseggern.com, as of November 2026. “Hundreds of events” is her own description of her event PR work.
See how the framework applies to event PR, corporate PR, and cultural PR services, or return to the arts PR Los Angeles overview.
Send the dates, the news and your goals. Susan von Seggern builds an individualized campaign around them.
FAQ
Media relations is the work of building and using relationships with journalists, editors, producers, and podcast hosts to earn coverage. For Susan von Seggern it means identifying target outlets and contacts, pitching for coverage, servicing press releases by email, and answering journalists who post requests for sources. She draws on more than two decades of media contacts.
It is a way to give one outlet a milestone first, or to brief selected journalists before the public announcement. In Susan von Seggern’s framework, the exclusive or pre-brief is followed by email servicing of the release to a wider list and, if budgeted, posting to a newswire. It gives key outlets a reason to cover the news early.
Lead service monitoring means watching services where journalists post requests for sources, then pitching the requests that match a client. Susan von Seggern monitors five lead service feeds daily, plus emails and Substacks from journalists seeking leads directly. This has placed clients in Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, the New York Times, HuffPost, Best Life, and many other outlets.
Yes, press releasing is one of the four pillars. The archive on susanvonseggern.com holds dozens of releases she has issued, covering festivals, film, music reissues, books, audiobooks, nonprofits, and technology companies. Releases announce significant milestones and are serviced to journalists by email, with newswire posting added if it is budgeted.
Agree on a reporting format when you scope the campaign. Most PR engagements share coverage links and pitch activity, and the four pillars of outreach, releasing, lead monitoring, and events each produce trackable activity. Decide how often you want updates and which outlets matter most to you before the campaign starts, so reporting reflects your goals.
It depends on the project. A single event or release needs lead time for announcements and pitching, while corporate visibility often runs as sustained outreach over months. Susan von Seggern scopes each campaign individually and has not published a standard duration, so ask for a proposed timeline when you inquire about your dates.
Published by Susan von Seggern