NEW YORK CITY-A glimpse of life in the media was provided to 100 members of NYCREW and guests last night as they took in a panel discussion entitled “Women In Real Estate Media: The Real Scoop.” Participants included GlobeSt.com's own Sule Aygoren, content curator (who is also the editor-in-chief of Real Estate Forum); as well as Amanda Metcalf, New York reporter, Bisnow.com; Linda Barr O'Flanagan, editor, Real Estate Weekly; and Lois Weiss, “between the bricks” columnist and reporter, New York Post. The talk was moderated by Constance Mitchell Ford, real estate editor, The Wall Street Journal.
The discussion started with a lesson for those in attendance: not all media are alike, noted Ford. Each panelist, including the moderator, spoke about what their publication or site covers, which ran the gamut from celebrity chefs opening eateries in New York to multi-million dollar industrial or office deals. Aygoren said that, with nearly 20 editors around the country, Real Estate Forum is the source for in-depth analysis and GlobeSt.com is the industry's portal for access to that analysis as well as breaking news and trends.
Metcalf said Bisnow.com has two people with the title of chief humorist. O'Flanagan seeks to cover “everything in real estate” and Weiss looks for “pitches on things that will affect readers' paychecks.”
Throughout the introductions of the different publications, and over the course of the talk, two themes prevailed. All of the speakers want to be the first to get information, and they all look for information that's new and different—such as deals with a twist.
“We like the unusual,” Aygoren said, noting that in Forum's “Deals of the Year,” feature this year, which comes out later this month, three of the largest office leases, as well as the largest deal, were done by book-seller Amazon. She added that the recent relaunch of GlobeSt.com has pushed the subject of online CRE coverage into the 21st Century through reader engagement, customization and industry submissions. “We have increased our original content by 40% since January.”
Noted O'Flanagan, “When I'm looking at hundreds of emails a day, [what you send] has to catch my eye.”
The role of social media in news gathering and in the industry, as well as the need for everyone in the industry to use Twitter in particular, was also discussed.
“Twitter is the main news source these days, yet people in our industry aren't using it,” Aygoren asserted. For those who haven't started using it and are perhaps intimidated, there is—in a matter of speaking—an on ramp, added Weiss. “Start following people who write about what's of interest of you.”
But what's paramount in getting editors' attention, ultimately, comes back to one key tenet: make your news unique, when possible.
When you're pitching a story, concluded Aygoren: “Find the hook.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
