Gawker: profnet

Journo Needs Constitutional Law Expert to Explain How Hawaii Is in America

Pareene — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:26:03 EDT

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports today on the Marine who refuses to go to Afghanistan because Barack Obama is not qualified to be president. If this ProfNet inquiry is any indication, reporter Alyse Knorr found his arguments compelling!

LAW/TODAY: Obama's Presidential Eligibility — Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionTOP
[Limited to the Northeast/Southeast] I need an expert in constitutional law to tell me why Obama *is* eligible to be the president of the United States. Many people claim he is not the president because he was born in Hawaii. I need an expert to explain the eligibility requirement. Contact: Alyse Knorr, [redacted]

Submitted by:Alyse Knorr
Organization:Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Deadline:Jul 15, 2009 01:30 PM EST(America/New_York)

Here are some funny things:

Birthers do not actually believe that Obama isn't qualified to be president because he was born in Hawaii. They don't believe he was born in Hawaii!
She sent out this query 30 minutes before her deadline. Hah.

Also, this Tweet. (Update: She deleted her account; screenshots next time.) The more you know!

How To Become A Millionaire By 'Helping' Reporters

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:41:21 EDT

Consider Peter Shankman: skydiving flack, taser lover, and the founder of Help A Reporter Out (HARO), the free (!) service that connects reporters with a world of flacks dying to appear in their stories. HARO is a lot like Profnet, except Profnet costs flacks thousands of dollars a year. We wondered why Shankman went to all the trouble of running HARO, and now we know: $800,000 a year! Is this oversharing man the future of flackery?

Adweek takes an in-depth look at the HARO phenomenon, and does a little calculating to figure out that Shankman makes more than $3K every day selling ads on his two daily HARO emails, that go out to more than 30,000 flacks and other wannabe media sources. For an hour and a half of work. Okay, that's kind of slick.

But you know who thinks HARO sucks? The people at Profnet! HARO's deficiencies:

It's not from a neutral source—Shankman is a PR guy with his own clients, and gives them first crack at the good media requests.
Other reporters can totally monitor HARO and steal your ideas.
Profnet is the recognized leader in masturbation advice and smelly genital information.

I used Profnet many times in my former life as a trade mag reporter; when you needed to round up five geographically disparate sources with slightly different takes on the pluses and minuses of PR agency day care plans, there was really no substitute. But I have to admit that the real takeaway from this debate is probably this, from Sheldon Rampton of PR Watch:

"We're living in an environment where reporters are less and less willing to do independent research, so that's created an opportunity for PR people to step in and do the research for them," Rampton says...

"My personal take on ProfNet is it's not all bad, but there's more bad than good in it," says Rampton, who is less familiar with HARO. "It's one of various ways that the news product is getting cheapened."

Em & Lo Need Some Masturbation Advice

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:34:40 EDT

See, this is why I will always stand behind Profnet as my preferred place for reporters to find sources for bizarre stories, no matter what cheaper competition comes along: because of Profnet's unparalleled sophomoric joke opportunities! For example, are you an expert on masturbation and all of its ins-and-outs, ha? Well "Em" of "Em & Lo," sex book authors and your source for "all things love, sex, and star related," wants to talk to you right away! And she'll happily promote your masturbation projects in return:

Why Does A Flack Want To "Help" A Reporter?

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:11:35 EDT

A flack named Peter Shankman (who enjoys getting tased) has built up quite a little reporter-helping service! Through a free website, Helpareporter.com, Shankman takes in queries from reporters in search of sources for random stories, and then sends those queries out to the PR world, who—coincidentally—like to be featured sources. Everybody wins! Except for the other reporter-source website called Profnet, which does the same thing, but charges a big fee to flacks to participate:

Shankman tells me he heard from a source that ProfNet is so concerned salespeople have been issued talking points against him. With 14,000 "professional communicators" in its roster, ProfNet has a significant cash flow at stake, especially when your competition gives away its product for free.

Shankman says he'll never charge for his service and would never sell his mailing list — the hour and a half per day that he spends on his mailing list results in great publicity for himself — better than he could ever buy. Though, he does make some coin selling ads at "way over $100 CPMs" to advertisers like American Apparel.

Shankman's little service has been building slowly for a long time. By all outward appearances (not counting his service to American Apparel), he's giving away a valuable service for free, out of the goodness of his heart. Which is why I've always been so god damn skeptical of the whole thing.

What's your angle, Shankman? What's your angle? What's your angle? I fully expect this to turn into some sort of cult, or be revealed as a CIA plot to infiltrate the media. Until then, we're withholding judgment.

[The Industry Standard]

Reporter Desperately Seeking Smelly Foot, Genital Information

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:20:07 EDT

Ah, Profnet—the easy-peasy electronic service that lets reporters put out requests for even the strangest sources. Then those requests are leaked to us, and we can all have a sympathetic laugh about the endlessly debasing things that freelancers have to go through just to pay the rent. Maybe you can help! Do you know much about smelly feet and/ or vaginas? Please get in touch at once!

For "a digital magazine aimed at women 35+." Could it be....THIS?

Maxim Needs A Carny, Stat!

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:19:01 EST

When professional journalists on deadline need a specific source to nail down a story, they turn to Profnet, which connects reporters and flacks. Like this request, from Maxim: "I need someone who can guess weights via pictures. A carnival barker would be ideal." Don't everybody call at once! Image after the jump.

Why Can't the 'Times' Just Get Along?

Jesse — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 13:03:05 EST

A vigilant reader forwarded us an inquiry spotted today on ProfNet, the blast-email service that helps reporters find overeager sources:

WORKPLACE: Ending Awkwardness at Work - New York Times (US)
Time for another 'Career Couch' column. This one is about ending the awkwardness between you and your boss. The scenario: You're in the second month of a new job, and any conversation you have with your boss is still very uncomfortable for both parties. How do you break the ice and lighten the relationship without seeming contrived? I'm looking for expert advice and personal anecdotes.

And we can't help think: Get over it already, Keller. We all know Sulzberger dissed you for Raines at first. But you won in the long run. So just deal.

ProfNet
Earlier:
Today in Judy: The Woman Needs Help
Coming to a Sunday Styles Near You: 'Yellow-Light Bachelors'