Media relations services
Last updated: November 2026
Susan von Seggern's media relations services generate coverage through four pillars: sustained media outreach, press releasing, lead service monitoring, and events. She developed the framework over decades of PR work to fit today's media landscape, pairing newer tactics like podcast pitching and hyper-local coverage with tried and true methods.
Media relations services are the part of PR that deals directly with journalists, editors, producers, and podcast hosts. They get coverage by matching a client's news or expertise to what each outlet actually covers.
In this practice, each pillar is a separate route to coverage. Campaigns use the ones that fit the client's news and budget.
Comparison
How each pillar of Susan von Seggern's framework works and when it helps most.
| Pillar | What it involves | Most useful for |
|---|---|---|
| Sustained media outreach | Identify target outlets and contacts, then pitch them over time, including podcasts | Building steady coverage between announcements |
| Press releasing | Exclusive or pre-brief announcement, email servicing, newswire post if budgeted | Significant milestones: launches, events, releases |
| Lead service monitoring | Five lead service feeds daily, plus journalist emails and Substacks | Clients with expertise reporters are actively seeking |
| Events | Media events, intro luncheons, sponsorships, conferences, gifting, gift bags | Creating news and meeting press in person |
In detail
Coverage rarely comes from a single email. Sustained outreach starts with identifying the outlets and specific contacts that cover a client's world, then pitching them with angles that fit each one. Susan von Seggern includes podcast pitching here, since podcasts reward guests with real expertise and stories. She also uses hyper-local coverage, which matters most for events where nearby audiences are the ones who will attend.
Releases are reserved for significant milestones. Each is announced through either an exclusive model, where one outlet gets the story first, or a pre-brief model, where selected journalists hear it before the public. Email servicing to media contacts follows, then a newswire post if the client budgets for it. Susan recommends Business Wire for its respectability. Read more about press release services.
Journalists regularly post requests for sources. Susan von Seggern monitors five lead service feeds daily, plus emails and Substacks from journalists looking for leads directly, and pitches the requests that match her client's expertise. She reports that this often leads to strong coverage, with placements in Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, the New York Times, Huff Post, Best Life, and many other outlets.
Events create news and put the press in the same room as the client. The format ranges from producing a large celebrity and media event to a small media intro such as a cocktail hour or luncheon, an event sponsorship, exhibiting or speaking at a conference, exhibiting at a gifting event, or gift bag inclusions. See how event PR campaigns run.
Media relations services are the part of PR focused on journalists and outlets. Susan von Seggern organizes hers into four pillars: sustained media outreach including podcast pitching, press releasing, lead service monitoring, and events. Each pillar is a separate route to coverage, and campaigns combine them based on the client’s news and budget.
More answers in the FAQThe four pillars are: sustained media outreach, meaning identifying target outlets and contacts and pitching them, including podcasts; press releasing for significant milestones; lead service monitoring of five feeds daily plus journalist emails and Substacks; and events, from large media events to sponsorships, conferences, and gifting.
More answers in the FAQLead service monitoring means watching services where journalists post requests for sources, then pitching the ones that match a client’s expertise. Susan von Seggern monitors five lead service feeds daily, plus emails and Substacks from journalists looking for leads directly. She reports placing lead service coverage in Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, the New York Times, Huff Post, and Best Life.
More answers in the FAQSusan von Seggern reports placing lead service coverage in Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, the New York Times, Huff Post, Best Life, and many other outlets. These placements come from monitoring journalist lead requests daily and pitching clients whose expertise matches what the reporter asked for.
More answers in the FAQPodcast pitching is booking a client as a guest or source on podcasts relevant to their story. Susan von Seggern includes it in sustained media outreach and names it as one of the newer PR tactics she pairs with established methods like events, press releases, and ongoing pitching to journalists.
More answers in the FAQHyper-local coverage is press from neighborhood and community outlets close to where a client operates or holds an event. Susan von Seggern lists it among the latest PR tactics she uses. For a Los Angeles event, local outlets reach the people most likely to attend, which complements broader media outreach.
More answers in the FAQGenerally no publicist can guarantee editorial coverage, because journalists and editors decide what runs. What a publicist controls is the quality and persistence of outreach. Susan von Seggern’s approach relies on sustained outreach rather than one-time blasts, and on lead requests where a journalist has already said they want a source.
More answers in the FAQTell Susan what makes your story or expertise newsworthy, and she will suggest which pillars to start with.
Published by Susan von Seggern