5 Filters Every PR Professional Should Use When Finding Journalists

A journalist database is only as useful as the filters you apply to it. With hundreds of thousands of media contacts available across platforms like JournalistDB, the difference between a successful PR campaign and a wasted afternoon comes down to knowing which filters to use — and how to combine them effectively.

Here are the five filters every PR professional should master when building journalist lists for outreach campaigns.

1. Beat and Topic Filters

This is the most fundamental filter, and yet it’s where most PR professionals don’t go deep enough. Filtering by “technology” when you’re pitching a cybersecurity product is too broad. You need to drill down to the specific beat: cybersecurity, data privacy, enterprise security, or even more narrowly — ransomware, zero-trust architecture, or compliance.

Effective beat filtering requires understanding how journalists define their own coverage areas. A reporter who covers “fintech” might focus exclusively on payments, while another covers the broader financial technology landscape. Reading their recent articles is the best way to understand the nuance of their beat, but starting with the right filter categories saves enormous time.

When using JournalistDB, combine topic filters with keyword searches of recent articles. This gives you journalists who both identify with a beat and have actively written about your specific subject matter recently.

2. Publication Type and Tier

Not every media placement serves the same purpose. A mention in The Wall Street Journal carries different weight than a feature in a niche industry blog — but both can be valuable depending on your goals.

Filter by publication type to match your campaign objectives:

• National/mainstream media: For brand awareness and credibility (New York Times, CNN, Forbes)
• Industry trade publications: For reaching decision-makers in your specific market (TechCrunch for startups, Adweek for marketing, etc.)
• Regional media: For local market penetration or event promotion
• Digital-native outlets: For SEO backlinks and online visibility
• Podcasts and newsletters: For reaching engaged, niche audiences

Tiering your publications helps you allocate your personalization effort appropriately. Tier 1 targets get custom, deeply researched pitches. Tier 3 targets get well-crafted but more scalable outreach.

3. Geographic and Regional Filters

Geography matters more than many PR professionals realize. A product launch in Austin is going to get more traction with Texas-based media and journalists who specifically cover the Austin tech scene. A healthcare company expanding to the UK needs journalists who cover British healthcare policy, not American healthcare reporters.

Regional filters are especially powerful for:

• Local market launches: Target journalists in the specific city or region where you’re launching
• Event promotion: Reach media in the city where your event is happening
• Regulatory stories: Filter for journalists who cover specific state or national regulatory environments
• International expansion: Find English-language journalists in target markets

JournalistDB’s region filter lets you narrow your search to specific geographic areas, which is particularly valuable for location-dependent stories. Combine geographic filters with beat filters for maximum precision — “fintech journalists in London” is far more actionable than just “fintech journalists.”

4. Recency and Activity Filters

One of the most overlooked filters is recency — how recently a journalist has published on your topic. A journalist who covered AI extensively in 2024 but hasn’t written about it in the last 6 months may have shifted beats, gone on leave, or moved to a different publication.

Filtering by recent activity ensures you’re reaching journalists who are actively covering your space right now. This is crucial because:

• Active journalists are more responsive: They’re looking for sources and story ideas in your space
• Stale contacts waste time: Pitching someone who no longer covers your beat is a dead end
• Editorial priorities shift: Publications change their coverage focus regularly

When evaluating journalist databases, prioritize tools that show you recent articles and publication dates. A database entry that says “covers technology” without showing recent work is significantly less useful than one that shows you the journalist’s last five articles with dates.

5. Engagement and Relationship Filters

If you’ve been doing PR outreach for any length of time, you have relationship data — journalists who’ve responded to previous pitches, covered your company before, or engaged with your content on social media. This is your most valuable filter.

Segment your journalist contacts by relationship status:

• Previous coverage: Journalists who’ve written about you before are 5-10x more likely to cover you again
• Previous response: Even a “not right now” response indicates openness to future pitches
• Social engagement: Journalists who follow you or engage with your content are warmer than cold contacts
• Event connections: Journalists you’ve met at conferences or events

Using list management features in tools like JournalistDB, you can maintain separate lists for different relationship tiers. Your “warm contacts” list should always be your first outreach for any new campaign, before you expand to cold outreach from filtered searches.

Combining Filters for Maximum Impact

The real power of filters comes from combining them. A single filter gives you a broad list; combined filters give you a precision-targeted one. Here’s an example workflow:

1. Start with beat/topic: “artificial intelligence”
2. Narrow by publication type: trade and mainstream tech publications
3. Filter by region: United States
4. Filter by recency: published on this topic in the last 90 days
5. Cross-reference with your relationship data: prioritize warm contacts

This workflow might take a list of 5,000 AI journalists down to 40-50 highly relevant, recently active, strategically tiered contacts. That’s a media list worth pitching.

The bottom line: filters are the difference between spray-and-pray PR and strategic media outreach. Master these five, and you’ll spend less time building lists and more time earning coverage.