I inherited my Rolodex from the writer I replaced. Then you just add to it over time. Meet new PR guy for WhizCo at an unrelated story? Another card for the Rolodex. The savvy PR people will reach out to you without prompt, as well, which can be a good sign for a working relationship. Press releases are a 50/50 shot for a good number; depends on the source.
Other commenter's right, too, there is a lot of institutional knowledge at journalism shops. A casual newsroom "who do we know at Acme?" or "who likes us at the Department of Labor?" almost never goes unanswered.
A wise reporter once told me half of reporting is who will answer the phone, the other is deadlines.
Tech people have this stuff, too, particularly in the backbone transit game. White courtesy phone, that sort of thing; BGP flaps don't go through technical support. Those numbers are guarded closely, though, because they usually ring 3-4 feet from a NOC on-duty engineer.
Other commenter's right, too, there is a lot of institutional knowledge at journalism shops. A casual newsroom "who do we know at Acme?" or "who likes us at the Department of Labor?" almost never goes unanswered.
A wise reporter once told me half of reporting is who will answer the phone, the other is deadlines.
Tech people have this stuff, too, particularly in the backbone transit game. White courtesy phone, that sort of thing; BGP flaps don't go through technical support. Those numbers are guarded closely, though, because they usually ring 3-4 feet from a NOC on-duty engineer.