In their daily activities, journalists obtain information from the following sources:

First source of information. Participation in events where the journalist is a witness to the event. Typically, organizers themselves invite journalists to the events they hold. This could be a rally, a sports competition, the opening of a new enterprise, a reporting meeting of an official, etc. Journalists can also independently learn about an event or incident and attend without an invitation (for example, by finding out about an art exhibition or a major accident).

Second source of information. Press releases. These are informational messages specifically prepared for the media. Governmental and private organizations send them to journalists and editorial offices of mass media outlets.

Third source of information. The Internet: websites of government and private organizations, encyclopedias, other media outlets, reports, statistics, etc.

An official, and often primary, source of information for a journalist is government agencies. These can be various government structures — the prosecutor’s office, police, city and regional administrations, ministries, and others. Usually, they have a press service or at least one press secretary. Working as a journalist in the media, you need to get acquainted with them.

Every journalist receives a large number of press releases daily; this is one of the main sources of information. The simplest option: you send an email (found on the official website of their department) stating that you are a journalist, work with specific publications, and request to be sent press releases and invited to events. After this, some press secretaries will send you information and invite you to seminars, press conferences, and other events organized by their department. Others may not (those who do not want to cooperate with you or the newspaper you write for). Remain calm and do not take it personally.

Ideally, you should know the press secretary’s name and phone number, receive official press releases and invitations from them, and have a good rapport with them at official events.

Let’s look at a few options for working with press releases.

You work in the editorial office of a newspaper or online publication. Press releases about various events are sent to the editorial email or your personal email from government bodies, private, and public organizations. Based on them, you write your materials.
Or you work freelance for several publications and independently request press releases from various organizations. After that, you start receiving them regularly. You use them to prepare journalistic materials.

Perhaps you write commissioned articles for websites. In this case, the information from press releases is mainly used to complement materials (for example, statistics or background information).

Ideally, you should not write a piece based solely on a press release because you are receiving information from an interested party that presents the events one-sidedly, from a position favorable to them.

But in practice, calls and especially trips take up too much time and energy. Sometimes journalists write only based on a press release, plus their own opinion, plus what they know about the topic, and plus some information they find on the Internet. This is not an ideal option, but it is quite acceptable.

In addition to direct contact with the press service, you can gather information from official websites. It would be useful to compile your own database of specialists and various experts. Gradually, you will accumulate such contacts. These can include psychologists, financiers, public figures, former police officers, and many others. You will turn to them for comments on topics of interest. You can also approach, for example, the director of a factory where new, interesting products are being produced or an inventor who has just patented their hundredth perpetual motion machine.