About Reverse PR

Back in 2004, just before the Australian Federal election, I started a service called Talent Finders for Media and received national media coverage at the time.

The idea behind Talent Finders was to help journalists easily connect with voters willing to be sources for election campaign stories. Well long story short, Talent Finders wasn't the success I thought it might be. The idea was right, but the model was wrong.

Since the early 1990's I've been working with the media in a variety of roles. I’ve been a Howard government ministerial media adviser, a military public affairs officer, a public affairs officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and a PR consultant and political lobbyist. Over the years I've befriended many people in the media, not just in Canberra but right across the country, and internationally too. Many of my media friends regularly come to me asking for help to connect with sources for stories they're working on. (They obviously think I know people.) On occasion I would be caught out without my list of contacts, which made me think there must be an easier way to help.

Fast forward to 2009. After looking at similar models running in North America, particularly Peter Shankman's HARO, I created Reverse PR with an emphasis on Australia.