--- title: "Journalist requests" url: https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/journalist-requests type: Page --- # Journalist requests Journalist requests explained: what happened to HARO and Connectively, how Qwoted and Featured work, and which request platforms bring the best coverage. Digital PR glossary ## Journalist requests Journalist requests are call-outs from reporters, editors and podcasters looking for expert sources, data or case studies for a story. They are shared on platforms such as Qwoted, Featured, HARO and Connectively, and on social media under hashtags such as #journorequest. Answering them is a core reactive PR tactic. ## What happened to HARO? HARO (Help a Reporter Out) was founded by Peter Shankman in 2008, bought by Vocus in June 2010 and became part of Cision when Vocus merged with Cision in 2014. Cision rebranded it as Connectively in 2024 and discontinued Connectively on 9 December 2024. On 15 April 2025 Cision announced the sale of HARO to Featured.com, which relaunched HARO's request emails that month. In June 2026 Featured revived Connectively as well, so both names are live again under one owner: HARO as an email service and Connectively as a platform where experts browse and filter requests. ## How the main platforms work - Qwoted: journalists post calls for experts, and replies go straight to the journalist, using pitch credits from the source's plan - Featured: experts answer questions that are matched to publishers building expert-led articles - HARO: requests sent to registered sources by email - Connectively: the same kind of requests in a searchable platform - Social media: reporters on X and LinkedIn post requests with #journorequest ## Which platform is best? BuzzStream's July 2025 study of requests posted in May and June 2025 found Qwoted had the most requests and the highest share from sites with an Ahrefs Domain Rating of 70 or more (70.3%). Just over 38% of HARO's requests came from sites rated 0 to 9. Only 21.9% of all requests explicitly offered a followed link. Domain Rating is a third-party metric, not a Google signal, but it is a useful filter for which requests are worth answering. ## Example A reporter asks for a mortgage adviser to explain what a rate cut means for first-time buyers, with a 3pm deadline. A reply with the adviser's name, regulatory status, two quotable sentences and a phone number is usable as it stands. A reply that links to a blog post is not. ## Related terms - [Reactive PR](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/reactive-pr) - [Media pitch](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/media-pitch) - [Earned media](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/earned-media) - [Domain Rating (DR)](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/domain-rating) ## Further reading - [The must-have tools for any Digital PR pro](https://marketingsignals.com/insights/the-must-have-tools-for-any-digital-pr-pro) - [How to pitch a journalist: What an ex-Reach PLC pro really thinks of your pitch](https://marketingsignals.com/insights/how-to-pitch-a-journalist-what-ex-reach-plc-pro-thinks-of-your-pitch) Our [Digital PR](https://marketingsignals.com/service/digital-pr) service puts this into practice for brands in the UK and US. ## Sources - [Cision announces sale of Help A Reporter Out (HARO) to Featured.com, PR Newswire (15 April 2025)](https://www.prnewswire.com/sv/pressmeddelanden/cision-announces-sale-of-help-a-reporter-out-haro-to-featuredcom-302428036.html) - [Help a Reporter Out, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_a_Reporter_Out) - [Featured.com revives Connectively, launches AI co-pilot for PR, GlobeNewswire (26 May 2026)](https://www.globenewswire.com/fr/news-release/2026/05/26/3301366/0/en/Featured-com-Revives-Connectively-Launches-AI-Co-Pilot-for-PR.html) - [Journalist request platform Connectively surpasses 100,000 users, PR Newswire via StreetInsider (9 June 2026)](https://www.streetinsider.com/PRNewswire/Journalist+Request+Platform+Connectively+Surpasses+100%2C000+Users/26621448.html) - [What is Qwoted? An intro for PRs and experts, Qwoted Help Center](https://intercom.help/qwoted/en/articles/15485779-what-is-qwoted-an-intro-for-prs-and-experts) - [The data behind 7 top journalist request platforms, BuzzStream (18 July 2025)](https://buzzstream.com/blog/journalist-request-platform-study/) ## Ready To Earn Coverage That Counts?