Dr. Anni Reinking Is Part of the National Conversation on Race—in part—because of HARO

I have important information about what’s happening right now—so, how can I get in touch with journalists? That’s one of the most common questions raised by our authors, our contributing columnists to ReadTheSpirit magazine and the wider network of our publishing house’s professional colleagues.

We agree that’s a crucial question. We select books for publication that we believe can be a valuable part of national conversations on race, ethnicity, religion, culture, healthcare, spiritual wellbeing, food, education and a host of other urgent issues.

So, how did Dr. Anni Reinking, author of Not Just Black and White, step up into the national conversation on race? First, her book is timely, inspirational, compelling reading and Anni has a wealth of knowledge—both as a top scholar and educational consultant and as the White mother of a Black child. She’s an articulate authority who speaks to readers in a storytelling style that is both challenging and inspiring.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, our Marketing Director Susan Stitt spotted an item in her daily newsletter from HARO that was a perfect opportunity for Anni to connect with Romper magazine’s lifestyle writer Lindsay E. Mack. Susan shared the HARO inquiry from Lindsay with Anni—and the result was a major June 30 online magazine story headlined, 9 Resources For Non-Black Parents Of Black Children, Recommended By Experts & Families.

Lindsay wrote in part:

These resources can help you develop the tools to talk about tough issues with your own family. The talk in white families growing up is often about sex; however, in Black families or families raising Black children, the conversation needs to be about interacting with police officers, as Anni K. Reinking, Ed.D., early childhood educator and author of Not Just Black and White, tells Romper.

What is HARO? And how can I subscribe?

HARO stands for Help a Reporter Out. Here’s the HARO home page, where you can explore the online service and sign up for your own account—if you want to receive HARO emails pitching story ideas. HARO also sells expanded levels of professional service, but the free account delivers up to several emails a day to your inbox. So, be sure you really want to hear from HARO before you set up an account.

More than a decade ago, entrepreneurial journalist Peter Shankman started HARO as a Facebook group. The service was so successful in connecting journalists with sources that it morphed into a mailing list and, not too long after Shankman formed HARO, he sold it to another company that today is part of the online-public-relations giant Cision. That company owns a whole series of successful online services, most notably the venerable PR Newswire, which started way back in 1954!

In short: HARO is legit. That doesn’t mean every listing on HARO is reliably going to connect you with a top national journalist—some of these journalists using HARO are small-scale bloggers. Plus, even if you send a pitch in response to a HARO request, that doesn’t mean you will ever get a response.

But it is, indeed, a powerfully connective resource. 

While our own ever-vigilant Susan Stitt is always watching HARO, feel free to experiment with the service yourself.