E-commerce Journalism & Pitching The Hollywood Reporter with Editor Danielle Directo-Meston – Podcast Transcript

Speakers: Lexie Smith, Danielle Directo-Meston

Lexie Smith  

Danielle directo Meston is currently the Hollywood Reporter’s first e commerce editor and the founder and publisher of retail news platform uncover la.com. Over the past 18 years, she has covered local communities fashion and lifestyle for the Las patch racked curved sea and other la based print and online publications. And her bio lines have also appeared on a rolling stone my domain where LA and Pacific San Diego. Danielle, welcome to the show. I’m so so excited to have the opportunity to chat with you today. I always love to kick it off with Where’s homebase and what do you like to do outside of work for fun?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Yeah, thanks so much Lexie for having me. My home base is the San Fernando Valley in LA. And outside of work. I really just enjoy exploring the city with my family. I you know, I was born and raised here. There’s so much so much to do. And yeah, just going out, camping, outdoorsy stuff.

 

Lexie Smith  

A follow up questions. We’re in the San Fernando Valley, are you?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

I’m actually in the city of San Fernando that the valley was named after, which is like a funny thing to explain, because a lot of people will ask, Oh, we’re in San Fernando. And I just like, oh, no, no, but you know, not a lot of people know, you know, there is a the San Fernando.

 

Lexie Smith  

Lesson. Yeah, geography lesson for everyone. If you aren’t from the LA or California area, it goes LA and then you go a little north, and you’ll see that you’ll come across the San Fernando Valley, and then you go a little more north and you’ll go into Ventura County, which is where I’m at actually, yeah, yeah. So we’re not that far.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Yeah. What did you say you are? You’re in Valencia?

 

Lexie Smith  

Ventura? Ventura Ventura.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Okay. Yeah, you’re just a hop and skip over. Yeah.

 

Lexie Smith  

So camping, do you have any local camping areas? You guys go?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Um, you know, we try to think of where we go. There is Angeles. I haven’t been here in a while because we’ve kind of been taking the kids on like, longer trips to like, test the boundaries of that. If you just went to Yosemite and Yosemite in December. Sorry, September, we went to Yosemite in September. But Angeles crest is beautiful. I’m trying to think of that first campsite stop that’s like when you get into the park Joshua Tree National Park is kind of local you know, depends on time of year. Yeah. One place we haven’t actually been to as Santa Monica mountains we haven’t camped there yet. So

 

Lexie Smith  

I guess I didn’t it makes sense there would be camping there but I don’t think of that intuitive like natural Yeah,

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

I think I may be mistaken so I might have to like backtrack and fact check myself but but Malibu Creek State Park it obviously in Malibu. Probably a bit closer to you. I think there are campgrounds there are at the very least you can bring like an RV or trailer but

 

Lexie Smith  

yes, spots, right. There are mountains near us, which is which is you know, you might not expect if you aren’t familiar with California geography. Okay, how old are your kids?

 

Lexie Smith  

five and seven,

 

Lexie Smith  

five and seven? How did the Yosemite Trip go?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

You know, they are very outdoorsy kids. They kind of thrive just like being on their own. Like kind of just release them into the wild. But they loved it. You know, it was it was like a short trip short enough. It was maybe three to four days. So it was kind of like a nice little primer for them to like, get a feel for it. And then maybe we’ll start doing like the longer trips.

 

Lexie Smith  

So I have a 14 month old. So one plus two months and I just got back Wednesday from pretty much six weeks straight travel with her. We did Nashville. Why? Palm Springs in Oregon. So tons of Palm Springs was a drive but the rest of our flights and we survived we are here we live to tell the tale but it was.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Yeah, yeah. You know, traveling with kids. It’s like, I mean, it’s, it’s possible it’s just a matter of you know, how how much you want to deal with like the annoyances there’s always going to be something even when your dress just traveling with like, another adult, you know, there’s always going to be you know, you’ll butt heads. So kudos Oh, that sounds like I’m gonna have to get tips from you on timing,

 

Lexie Smith  

like feedback is she thrived with the stimulation, but it just takes five times longer to go anywhere or do anything. So Family Travel Tips show is what this podcast is. Okay, okay. Okay, so let’s kind of transition over, I’d love to focus in first on your career. And in my opinion, your bio is droolworthy. I mean, many, many undergrads pursuing journalism, would love to have accomplished even a fraction of what you have. So let’s rewind time, and talk me through how you really got your start in the industry. And then give me some clip notes up to today.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Yeah, I’m trying to get the cliffnotes version. I started. I’ve always had been a lifelong writer, I always like, had little magazines with my friends and was always like the editor. You know, the editor. I really, I guess started in high school. I was the entertainment editor of my high school paper. majored in Journalism at Cal State Northridge. And in between those years, when I was in community college and university, I started interning, aka writing for free. For a local entertainment website, I actually don’t know if it’s around anymore, but I started covering red carpet events. And like Hollywood parties, just when you’re young, it’s kind of fun and exciting to dip into that world. And I sort of, focused, refocused on local community news. I just found that I really, I found that I really thrived in covering stories where you really get to know people like covering local businesses, new stores, opening events, and local entrepreneurs. So sort of in between there in college, I was doing that. And then when I transferred to Cal State Northridge, I was editor of the Daily Sundial, which is a university paper. And that was a wonderful experience. I couldn’t have done it with like the entire staff there, it was just a really great college hands on college journalism experience. And to add to that, we were the semester that covered Obama’s inauguration or his election, I mean, so it was, you know, it was really wonderful. And then, you know, all throughout college, I was always sort of writing for someone else on the side, and just getting, you know, I guess, hands on real world journalism training. And so after college, I was freelancing for LA as to where I also continue to cover community news. And I was also sort of working full time as a copywriter than and I’ll like kind of fast forward to my days at rakt. So I think it was like from 2013 to 2016, I was editor of a local retail news site called rakt. Which is not around anymore, obviously. But it was really there where I really delve deeper into fashion and lifestyle and beauty coverage, which is a little bit unexpected for me, I never expected to be a fashion editor. And then from there, I after that site closed, I started my site uncover la as a way to continue covering retail news because no one is in LA is really covering hyperlocal retail news in that way. And then fast forward to today. Somehow I transitioned into E commerce reporting, and now I met the Hollywood Reporter, and I’m leading their e commerce coverage for online there.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, so we’re gonna get a few different moments of that journey but rack to circuit rewind my career for a bit, one of the first agencies I worked for in Los Angeles We had properties across the South Bay. The point and Elsa going to plus El Segundo anyway, yeah,

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

I remember covering? Yes.

 

Lexie Smith  

Pitched you I don’t know, I probably

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

did work together, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ll search my inbox.

 

Lexie Smith  

Um, so I’m very familiar with that outlet boss from the past. But yeah, it’s unfortunate, but it it closed, close down. So you’ve done freelancing kind of throughout your journey, I’d love to start there. Because we really seen a rise in freelancers, especially as of late with, you know, the shaking up that’s happening in our industry. Yeah, looking to get a start. In the world of freelance, do you have any high level tips for them? Or things to avoid? Or things to know, that might not be so obvious?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Or? Yeah, I’m trying to think, you know, I think it was such a, and you’ve probably heard this from other longtime editors and writers too. It’s such a different world. And when I started, I mean, for, I’ll be totally, like, open about it, I started writing freelancing, technically, technically, you know, interning, writing for free in 2005. So I was like, my, maybe 2021. And we just didn’t have all the, you know, career empowerment resources that we have today where, you know, people feel emboldened to really get paid for their time, which is, you know, you should be so it’s hard to give advice and say, Yeah, you should just work for free until you, you know, work up the ranks is it’s such a different landscape today. But I will say, you know, despite that, I would say, I don’t know, just be, feel free to experiment, it was a really tiny website that I don’t even know is, is around anymore, but it gave me the access, and it kind of gave me the foot in the door, to build connections and networking. And I guess that is the one piece of advice is, you know, I never that aspect of journalism, didn’t really, you know, wasn’t really on my radar at the time. But I’m glad that I built those connections, you know, in an organic way. Because it’s helped me in my career now, and I’ve just had like, a lot of long standing relationships. So I would say, you know, whatever, however, you feel the value of your interning experience or freelancing, or, you know, however, whatever journey that is, that is something to keep in mind. So, you know, it may not pay off in a paycheck, but it may pay off 510 years later, when you’re somewhere else, or you’ve got all these connections, and you’ll have, you know, stronger pitches and stronger relationships to support those.

 

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, a great thing to highlight, because often we, on the entrepreneurial side, or the PR side of things, think about the importance of networking with journalists. But this is also kind of reinforcing that journalists themselves also have their own challenges and also have to network in order to navigate their own career. So it’s not just happening on one side of the coin. Right, speak to any industry, really, where it doesn’t help you to, to be open minded and networking. So I think that’s a great. I think that’s a great reminder in life, too.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Yeah. And, and, you know, to your, to your point, I mean, I met a lot of other writers that helped me get other gigs. I’ve met, you know, writers that then, you know, flip to the PR side, and vice versa, you know, PR, PR people that then, you know, switch to journalism, and I have so many, you know, just really great people that I’ve met, that that’d become really great colleagues. And I guess the point is, you just never know, you

 

Lexie Smith  

never know. Totally. So speaking of you never know it. It sounds like and as you were talking through your kind of Cliff Notes version you’re like, and then somehow I became ecommerce, and let’s kind of pin there for a second. You are the Hollywood Reporter’s first ever in house e commerce writer. So that’s a really big deal to be the first of a kind in such an iconic outlet. How did that let’s start with this actually, what does that even mean? What does commerce writer at The Hollywood Reporter Do? What is your job role look

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

like? Yeah. On a day to day, I guess I should backtrack. So, because this will inform you know, the rest of the story. So I in between all that freelancing Hollywood reporter was also one of the publications I was freelancing for. And back then, it was shortly after racked close and I was covered Retail news events. And yeah, just a little bit of everything. And so just like a lot of other print, online and print publications, they had, you know, some layoffs and budget cuts. And so I believe when they were acquired by Penske media, they began doing more ecommerce coverage. And basically, for those who need a little like primer on E commerce, it, at least for me, it’s still very much editorial. I think a lot of people have the misunderstanding that it’s advertorial because we do make commission when, for example, someone clicks on a link to purchase something in a story, let’s say, the best, the best stress is inspired by Hollywood stars or something like that. So we do get a commission. And so I think because of that, there’s a little blurring of the lines that we never really actually learned in journalism school, you know, like it was always keep Church and State separate, let marketing and sales do their thing. You know, the journalists reporters, you do their that you do your thing to worry about revenue, you know, no need to worry about commission, that’s all the business side. So for me, I can only really speak, you know, to my role for me, it does involve, you know, editorial, everything that I include in my stories is still very much up to my discretion. And we do earn a commission on whenever someone clicks on something to buy. So, on a day to day basis, my job might be writing a quick news story on like a Hollywood collaboration. It might be writing a listicle it might be doing an interview, you know, I still get to do those kinds of stories where if there’s some kind of shopping tie in, it’s a good fit for us.

 

Lexie Smith  

You know, that I send out a community newsletter roundup every Tuesday, chocked full of resources, free media kit, downloads, event invites, journalist contacts, visibility opportunities, basically, if you’re not on the list, hit pause and sign up. It’s super simple. Go to the PR bar inc.com/newsworthy. That link is in the show notes. Okay, back to the show. That’s a great basis. And another topic that we’ve talked on the show about is affiliate links. And one of the questions when when, for everyone listening when she says they’re making a commission, that’s usually done through an affiliate link of sorts, correct?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Exactly.

 

Lexie Smith  

Is there any, or at least for the Hollywood Reporter, opportunities for anything in the E commerce anyone in the E commerce realm to potentially get featured if they don’t, or 100%, everyone has to have an affiliate link. I

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

personally never require, it’s like a nice to have, but I never require, you know, an affiliate partnership for coverage, because at the end of the day, it is service journalism, if something’s a good fit for the story, and it deserves to be included, then it should, regardless of whether we made the money or not. I don’t know if I honestly don’t know if that is that is the same across the board. But yeah, at the end of the day, I never want to require it. Mainly because, you know, I know a bit about how on the other side, how it works. And it can be very cost prohibitive, you’ve probably heard this before, it can be very cost prohibitive for, you know, a small brand to sign up for those programs. I think there’s a lot of fees like signup fees involved, and then you’re also handing over, you know, it could be like 20 30% of your sales, you’re splitting it between or among the middleman, which would be a company like SkimLinks. And what I’ll just quickly explain what SkimLinks does, basically, basically, essentially, they’re the middle person, so they bridge the gap between a brand or a retailer and a publisher. And that commission is kind of divvied up among everybody in different percentages. But you know, knowing that that’s one of the reasons why I don’t require it because you know, that can be I don’t want that to be a make or break for, you know, a small business owner.

 

Lexie Smith  

So you bring up a really interesting point. And this is something that I actually have thought about personally a lot, both ethically and legally the line the fine line between is it an advertising Are you? Is it an editorial? Is it a sponsored post? When the reality is there’s some sort of money being generated? So I’d love to kind of hear, you know, any of your thoughts on that topic? Is there a way that it’s handled? Is there a standard way? Or? I don’t know, really? Any anything on that line?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Yeah, yeah, that is a really interesting point. And honestly, like, when I started doing e commerce writing, I was, you know, had a conundrum. Like, uh, you know, am I am I, a salesperson, you know, am I really an extension of marketing? And you know, at the end of the day, people are always going to be searching for, like, we all do it, people are always going to be searching for what’s the best thing to buy in this category, you know, what’s safe for me to put on my skin? What’s safe for my kids? And service journalism, really, you know, it’s just meant to inform, and hey, if you get a commission, you know, you do, the way I like to operate is, so I’ll backtrack. So all of our E commerce content, as with, you know, other publications, everyone else that follows the rules, you do have to follow the Federal Trade Commission’s rules and have the disclaimer that you are earning a commission. And so, you know, that’s always there. And I always keep that in mind. And, you know, honestly, I will write a story, regardless of I like to think in the back of my mind, regardless of whether I’m making commission like, Is this helpful for the reader? Do they need to know this in my own way, including something just because I’m making a crazy amount of commission, you know, if it checks some of those boxes, like, Hey, this is a good product, and we earn a good commission, you know, it’s fine. But I never tried to prioritize one brand over the other. At the end of the day, like we said before, if it’s a fit for the story, and it’s of service to the reader than it should be in the story. With the topic of like, is it advertorial or sponsored, I mean, the way we operate it, Hollywood Reporter, you know, we, once in a blue moon, I’ll do sponsored stories will do sponsored stories, but they’re always clearly labeled, and it’s very different from, you know, the way I would write a regular article. So there is a difference. No one ever and I should, you know, clarify no one ever pays. I don’t get paid. The publication doesn’t get paid at least like an upfront fee. It’s only Commission, we don’t get paid to include a specific product. You know, there’s, I don’t, you know, like to, there’s no payola if that, yeah, at the end of the day, right, exactly, exactly. Honestly, if it’s if it’s a fit for the story, then it should be in there. And commission, for me, anyway, isn’t necessarily always the top thing I’m considering. It’s not the top requirement.

 

Lexie Smith  

Well, you sounds like your ethics are in a really good place, which is, from the journalistic side, I get it from both sides, I understand that. At the end of the day, a publication is a business and an order to journalists in order to provide us with news, they have to make revenue. And that’s becoming harder and harder to do with so much noise out there. And so I can’t stand the commission of affiliate links in that structure. But I appreciate on the legal side, and you highlighted the FTC the, for the consumers, to at least be not warranted. Maybe that’s the wrong word informed? Not some sort of exchange. I think that that is what makes it feel to me. Okay. But, again, who cares about mine.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

But you know, you do bring up a good point with the, you know, the disclaimers, and I think ecommerce content, shopping content is so widespread now, you know, maybe 10 years ago, it was like, Oh, that’s weird. Why are you trying to make money off of me, but I think now that people know, you know, what journalism is, people should get paid just like every, you know, writers get should get paid. There’s a whole thing on that now with It strikes with WGA. But, you know, people should get paid for their work. And it’s hard to do that in a in an industry that’s, you know, losing ad revenue. And so I think people are very much used to us to affiliate content now. I think it is up to the discretion of the reader, you know, hey, do I trust this publication, and even some people I’ve heard like, they don’t mind supporting a publication that they love to read, if they’re making some commission, then it supports, you know, it supports the publication too. It supports the writers and the business, to your point about the legal issues. An interesting thing that I’ve encountered is, for example, using Getty Images. Technically, you know, it’s for editorial it’s for news, but technically ecommerce content is you know, you’re earning commission you are earning revenue it’s, but is it technically Commercial use or not, you know? And that’s a super interesting, you know, topic to explore. And I don’t I don’t know, no, I

 

Lexie Smith  

need to have you knew we’re gonna do a three part series. No,

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

there’s there’s so many lawyer, I should preface that.

 

Lexie Smith  

What I think I’d like to kind of summarize from this little segment of our talk today is there’s a lot more that goes into it than initially meets the eye. And I think that if you’re in the world of PR in any capacity, whether you’re doing it yourself, or you’re, you’re someone, literally, that’s your job. It’s worth educating yourself on on this on these topics well for yourself, and to inform your clients, if you’re someone who has clients because it’s changing, the world is changing, it looks different than it did 10 years ago, and who knows what’s going to happen with the robots now. But

 

Lexie Smith  

I prefer to clean our houses and don’t do anything else.

 

Lexie Smith  

For pitches or products or companies, small businesses that don’t have an affiliate program setup. What are key things that you’re looking for in the pitch? Or do you have any advice or things that people should be mindful of that will help their chances of getting? Yeah,

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

yeah, you’ve probably heard this a lot, too. I think first and foremost, it’s always really important to pitch appropriately, appropriately to that publication. You know, I do cover tech, because, you know, our audience does, for example, they’re really interested in like home theater, accessories, and TVs, and you know, anything that helps whatever you’re watching on TV, you know, look good, but no, so it’s like, we do cover Tech, we do cover fashion and beauty. So there’s a lot of categories that would, you know, fit into our E commerce coverage. And I think, you know, most PR people know that, you know, we are in inundated with a lot of emails. I would just say, yeah, the first thing is, just make sure you’re pitching appropriately, that will really increase the likelihood that will respond. I also personally, don’t mind follow ups, because my inbox can get very clogged for better or for worse, and so I really don’t mind. You know, one week, follow up, two week follow up. Depending on the relationship I have, I don’t mind texts or phone calls. I don’t prefer them. You know, but if it’s something that’s very timely, and like absolutely a good fit for the story, maybe I’ve already already responded once, but didn’t, you know, respond to a second or third, you know, email. I don’t mind it, but I wouldn’t, I don’t prefer it. And you probably heard that a lot from other editors.

 

Lexie Smith  

It’s funny, because I mean, I’m not even I’m on the other side of the coin. But anyone who texts me, at this point in my, in my life, especially with my daughter, I feel like a week waiting period till I respond. But if you email me, I’m significantly faster. Just email you because you never respond to my texts. Yeah, in my inbox, I have a question kind of following up from that. Are you someone who likes when in a pitch you are given an angle idea to go with maybe a product? Or do you just want to learn about the product and you’re going to place it if it’s a fit or not?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Um, you know, I don’t mind angle ideas. I don’t mind story ideas. Certainly helps me. You know, at the end of the day, you know, we, at least at least for me, I always try to avoid you know, writing a story straight from a pitch, but it doesn’t hurt, you know, it’s helpful.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, where do you go about getting your story ideas personally?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Um, you know, I feel like inspiration can strike anywhere, you know, I might I’m trying to think of like, you know, I do still cover a fair amount of like fashion news like Met Gala. And sometimes a story idea might come from there, you know, trends of what people are wearing or, or, you know, affordable items that were spotted on the carpet. And also, like full disclosure, they also come from, you know, like SEO driven topics. We do a fair amount of that, like listicles So, it can be evergreen stories ranging from like, you know, the best TVs for watching movies, the best eyeliners the best hair tools loved by Hollywood hairstylists. So it kind of it kind of runs the gamut. I think that is the beauty of my role is that it really does give me you know, a lot of liberty to be creative and, and think of fun angles. Anything that’s like Hollywood or movie or TV related can be really fun. I always really loved to write stories about like Star Wars gifts, because there’s like, I don’t know, you can get really fun and creative writing those stories. But yeah, to answer your question, it kind of really spans across categories and, you know, genres ideas.

 

Lexie Smith  

I wrote down to on my notes, the SEO driven topic, because I think that’s also something that wasn’t talked about, depending on your age, about journalism school certainly wasn’t for me. You know, that wasn’t something that I really thought about, but I especially I would imagine in a row, like E commerce is something you have to be really mindful of to drive to drive eyeballs.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Yeah, you know, that is a really good point. I was in school I was in college from I was kind of a little bit on the Late Late track. But I graduated in 2009. And even just then, you know, we were learning about backpack journalism, how to be a photographer, you know, photo editor, sound, you know, person in a back in one in one role, which gave, you know, gave a lot of journalists a lot of freedom, if you could really dive into that. But yeah, the one thing we didn’t learn was SEO. We were the first. I mean, for reference, we were the first class to sign the university paper up for a Facebook, you know, account, and Twitter. So there was a lot it was exciting, but there was a lot of like, unknowns. I mean, certainly, if we knew then what we knew now about, you know, media literacy and fake news. I mean, I imagine it’s part of the curriculum now. But, you know, we wouldn’t even have fathom, what landscape would be like today?

 

Lexie Smith  

Who’s our producer? She graduated more recently. From journalism, I’m gonna have to ask her after after this recording? Because I’m super curious. Because same same.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

The Jack Yeah. Yeah. And honestly, like SEO is just something I’ve learned a lot, you know, throughout the years, and I think it’s also like, I kind of am really into analytics and like, nerdy things like that. Even just as you know, an everyday person that Googles things, or searches for things on the internet, like wondering, okay, how can I get someone to find my work? What are the things I would intuitively type in to find a story about, you know, the best comfortable shoes or whatever. But a lot of that, honestly, just, I have learned throughout the years working in online journalism, and I think that is, you know, that an interesting other facet of E commerce is everyone’s kind of competing for each other, against each other. And I think ultimately, at the end of the day, content will always be king or queen, you know, you’ll people aren’t stupid, they’ll read a story. And you can tell if something is just, you know, a content farm story, which there’s a time and a place for those kinds of stories, but I know that you’ve had this conversation too, with other editors about AI and, you know, just doesn’t have a soul. I think a lot of people have also asked me like, Oh, why don’t you use AI to assist in you know, writing? I mean, at the very least, it’s great for outlines, but it really, I could never, you know, I’ve done experiments that I would never publish something straight from the AI it just it I don’t know, it just isn’t there yet. And honestly, he kind of made it you know, the story needs soul and personality and you really only get that with a human for now.

 

Lexie Smith  

I know I thought I agree with you this is such a relevant topic right now that’s evolving so so quickly and you know, there’s there’s parts that I can appreciate it is helpful for brainstorming but on the other side I also I think a lot of people are realizing like there’s a dangerous line we’re walking here I always joke like robots taking over the world but I like to think that yeah journalistic perspective they they can’t replace the can’t be human I think right. Yeah, I was stupid was who said that on the show? She’s Yeah, yeah. Be is human.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Right. Right. And I mean, an example of that is you know, just coming from my personal experience covering local news is you can add great all you want a story about Silver Lake, for those who are, you know, in LA Silver Lake is like a really cool hip neighborhood had gotten gentrified over you know, Uh, last few, I would say like decades. And it used to be really rife with like, cool independent shops. And there are a lot of like corporate DTC brands that are there now, because they’ve recognized, you know, that it has like a cool factor. But, you know, you really have to visit the neighborhood to get a sense of how to write about it. And surely, you know, there are a lot of, there’s a lot of content and articles on the internet now that maybe an AI can like, sort of aggregate these bits and pieces, but it will just never have the same feel as someone who was on the ground. But, uh, yeah, you know, it. It’s great as a resource to help again with brainstorming, like you said, but definitely not there yet. I totally agree.

 

Lexie Smith  

Speaking of the value of a human, you are a human and you are a journalist, and you have your own personal preferences. And I’d love to transition into what I call a rapid fire preferential round of things that you like and don’t like when you’re being pitched. So literally no right or wrong answer and you already answered one. So you are pro. You’re okay with follow ups. So, yes, but Okay, are you ready? I’m just gonna, like, hammer him out.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Okay, do you want one word answers? Or

 

Lexie Smith  

whatever comes to mind, some are gonna get word you can feel free to elaborate, if you want. Do you have a favorite day of the week to be pitched?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Um, oh, that’s a good question. Not really, I mean, if it’s a good if it’s a good pitch, it’s a good pitch. And I’ll make it you know, I eventually get to the end of the day in my email.

 

Lexie Smith  

What time of day? Is there a time of day someone should pitch or avoid?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

For me, it doesn’t matter because I’m always catching up on everything. I think, obviously, I think they’re, like very timely pitches. And you know, people do this very, very, very timely pitches are always in the morning. That’s kind of like where I start. My day is I I’ll check anything, you know, between the hours of like, 7am to 10:10am. Here Pacific time. That’s kind of how I gauge like, Okay, this is a more timely or story. I’m not that helps.

 

Lexie Smith  

does. I think I totally helps. So you said you prefer to be pitched on email, but about social media. DMS? Yeah. Your day?

 

Lexie Smith  

By with it? Yeah.

 

Lexie Smith  

Yeah. Okay. Um, asset wise. I’m very curious, especially, especially for ecommerce. Do press KidsHealth

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

it does. They do. Yeah. Hi. Anything with like, a basic, you know, press release, high res images, lifestyle images. And product whites, which is like, you know, just the product on a white background for E commerce that helps.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, let’s and trees. Shouldn’t someone take a moment to acknowledge your work or get straight to the pitch?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

I don’t mind if it’s personal. Yeah, I don’t mind it. It really just depends on the story. You know, again, it’s like if it’s a good pitch and like, it doesn’t matter at the end of the day, I guess.

 

Lexie Smith  

Subject Lines. Are you someone who prefer straight to the point and kind of tell me what it is? Or are you open to more puns? Maybe things that are a little less straightforward.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

I’m open to both. I love a craft. I used to be a copywriter. So I love a crafty subject line. I don’t mind if people have fun with it.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, I’ll open it. You’ll open it. I love that. And then just remind everyone because I this kind of got brought up in a conversation earlier. But you said you are open to getting pitched angles, as well. Correct? Yes. Okay. Cool. See, look, you’re done you pass. The last question, actually, two more. First and foremost, I want to make sure we have an opportunity for both the Hollywood Reporter and your own publication uncover la we’re recording this in June so top of summer 2023. Looking ahead, is there any current topics or pitches that you would like to receive or would be helpful to receive from anyone listening?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Yeah, um, honestly, for thr, um, you know, the usual seasonal schedule. You know, right now I’m working on Summer and Fall roundups. I think the beauty of online is if I have an idea today, I can write it up and publish it. By the end of the day, summer and fall fashion and lifestyle content, I would say for both uncover lays a little bit more, you know, local retail news focus. So that’s kind of like anytime there’s an opening a store opening restaurant fitness. I’m always you know, my ears always open. For Hollywood Reporter I’m trying to think of other seasonal things that we’ve got going On, obviously anything that’s tied to like the Emmys or award shows. The nice thing about our E commerce is we can kind of fill in the gaps for style coverage because our you know, just like a lot of other publications or our staff is a little doesn’t have as much bandwidth or, you know, isn’t quite filled out as it was, you know, five years ago. Maybe that was like a whole other topic that I should have mentioned earlier. But um, yeah, just, you know, right now, for looking ahead through the end of the year, I start doing gift guide coverage, probably September, October. Yeah, I start planning it. Yeah, I start planning gift guide coverage, but we’ll probably start publishing those like, early November. That’s kind of the rest of the year in a nutshell. Super helpful.

 

Lexie Smith  

Thank you for being so true. Yeah. Yeah, you know, we we did talk a lot about pitching. So now I have to ask what we can find you seven. So my favorite wrap up question of the show. What is your favorite beverage? alcoholic or non alcoholic? Of course.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

Oh my gosh, I’m boring. And I just like water.

 

Lexie Smith  

Not even Yes, say water on this show.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

I mean, not even like not even not even like liquids too bubbly. For me. I grew up like not drinking soda. So I don’t I’m not really into carbonation. I’m also not a huge drinker, because I’m allergic to alcohol. So I do enjoy imbibing other things I will say this I do really like cans. ca n n I do really like their THC drinks. Oh, yeah. But on a day to day I’m just a water person straight from the tap

 

Lexie Smith  

water because you’re in LA that

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

filter tap water filter. I do have like a filter. Yeah,

 

Lexie Smith  

I’m from Northwest so I grow up water and then I grew down I live moved down here and there no water is created equally.

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

What part of the Pacific Northwest Did you

 

Lexie Smith  

I’m from Portland, Oregon. Right? Oh, okay. I

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

have a cousin of mine is 15 minutes outside of Portland and I have family in Seattle. Okay south of Seattle. So yeah, we are due for more Portland trips on the way back.

 

Lexie Smith  

We are water up there. So your your head on North. Oh, okay. So if you guys learned anything today, it’s probably that if you want good water head up north but no. Danielle, thank you so much for your time today. I truly, truly appreciate everything that you’ve shared. You’re so transparent. And for everyone listening. Where’s the best place for people to connect with you?

 

Danielle Directo-Meston  

You can for pitches I guess it’s around that topic. Pitches I’m at d d i r e cto@thr.com. That’s for Hollywood Reporter pitches for uncover la I’m Danielle at uncover la.com I’m also I’m somewhat active on Instagram. But I’m open to DMS as I mentioned, my handle there is at Danielle de Meston and I’ll hold my phone number for

 

Lexie Smith  

that idea of No You were very generous with your with your emails. So guys, your inbox, reach out on Instagram. Tell her how awesome she was on the show. Give her a big thank you. And thank you so much for joining us on the pigeon and sipping podcast. Hey guys, if you are enjoying the pitching and sipping podcast, please do me a huge favor and leave a review wherever you are listening. If you want to connect with me to learn more about the PR bar Inc. You can do so on Instagram Act, the PR bar underscore inc or you can check out my website at pr bar inc.com Cheers