Inside the Newsroom with The Huffington Post

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Just a few weeks ago, PRSA Silicon Valley (PRSA SV) held another session of their popular series, “Inside the Newsroom.”  For those not familiar with it, PRSA SV periodically features editors from a prominent business/tech outlet and the PR community gets an opportunity to hear first-hand from them about their publication and more importantly, how best to work with them.

This time, the featured outlet was none other than The Huffington Post - soon to be known as “HuffPost AOL News.”

In a packed Four Seasons hotel ballroom full of eager PR pros (Text 100 was well represented), the panel of editors included night editor Adam Rose, Victoria Fine who covers the non-profit beat and business/tech editor Ryan McCarthy. They shared their insights into the AOL acquisition, noting that one of the noticeable benefits from the change in ownership is the number of resources that will become available to them. Adam Rose also noted that readers can expect for other AOL-owned properties (i.e. Engadget) to soon interact with Huffington Post in new ways.

The blogger vs. journalist debate also came to light, with most of the editorial panelists stating that not all bloggers aspire to be professional journalists – an interesting take as bloggers tend to consider themselves to be journalists in their own right.

The greatest piece of advice from the event was this: pitches almost rarely get their interest – much less inspire potential story ideas. The key is something that most PR people know to be true: ongoing, meaningful discussions are usually the vehicle to inspire a story – and present an opportunity to offer a client’s perspective.

All in all, it was an informative afternoon that allowed the PR community to take a peek behind the curtain at the new Huffington Post.

Time will tell how the outlet changes over the next few months as it becomes more integrated into the AOL family. However for now, it’s refreshing to hear that a lengthy email pitch or a 140-character Tweet take a backseat to an old-fashioned conversation with an editor over the phone. It’s this PR person’s hope that they’ll remember this event when it comes time for me to give them a call with a potential story idea!