Suzanne Bearne 'How to secure press coverage' workshops and webinars

21/07/2026

Happy to see my article on rainwater harvesting in Mexico was the top Global Development story on the The Guardian yesterday.

On the last working day of my Latin American trip, a story I’d been trying to nail down for the Guardian finally came me off. I took a two and half hour taxi ride (thanks Mexico City traffic) to a small informal settlement in Cristo Rey to visit Ana Aparicio Bahena, who showed me how a rainwater harvesting system, which captures water from the roof and filters, has transformed her life.

Before, Aparicio Bahena used to have to walk to a well and carry buckets of water back up the hill to her home; now she has enough water to bathe regularly, to clean, to wash clothes, and water her garden across most months of the year.

“I can grow vegetables,” Aparicio Bahena proudly told me, holding up a small onion. “I have avocados, lemons, potatoes … I never used to be able to grow my own food. It’s wonderful.”

Like many informal settlements across Mexico, Aparicio Bahena’s metal-roofed home is not connected to the water network, and for years she had to collect water from a well about 30 minutes away.

Meanwhile, in the neighbourhood of Benito Juárez in Mexico City, I visited Dora Napolitano, who relies on a 5,000-litre rainwater harvesting system in her garden to cope with scarcity. While Napolitano has access to tap water, unlike Aparicio Bahena, the textile artist told me she bought the system in 2018 for environmental reasons.

“I was increasingly aware that the way we were living in Mexico City was completely unsustainable,” says Napolitano, who lives with her husband and four children, aged between 17 and 25. “Parents would complain about the traffic, the poor air quality, the flooding and the lack of water, but nobody took any responsibility. I’m not exonerating the government, but I felt the need to discover how much I could do.”

Across Mexico, NGO IslaUrbana’s rainwater harvesting systems have provided water for one million people.

Always a privilege for people to allow me into their homes and share their stories.

08/07/2026

From being diagnosed with ADHD to Gavin Rossdale refusing to take a paternity test, singer and designer Pearl Lowe spoke candidly in my latest interview for the The i Paper. (And showed me around her beautiful new Somerset cottage).

A snippet: “Gavin refused to do a paternity test for years. I was so young when I fell pregnant with Daisy. Gavin was my best friend and he was Daisy’s godfather. There were inklings [that he might be the father]. I said we should do a test and he was like, “No, no, no, I’m not her dad.” It was only when she got older and grew really tall – the guy that I thought was her dad was really small – and suddenly everyone kept going, “Oh, my God, she looks so much like Gavin.” Sadly, at that point he didn’t want to know. But now they’ve had this amazing relationship for more than a decade. She got married last summer and it was lovely hanging out with him.”

14/06/2026

From singer to designer to interiors star, the captivating Pearl Lowe shares her financial ups (houses, strong work ethic) and downs (penchant for vintage finds, client going into administration) with me for The Times and Sunday Times.

07/06/2026

I found out about tree-planting organisation Costas Verdes when out with drinks with a contact in Nosara, where I’d arrived for a story on the electrocution of wildlife due to uninsulated power lines. Straight away my ears pricked up. I arrived back at the hotel at midnight and fired off a pitch to one of my Guardian editors and emailed the organisation to ask if they’d be around for an interview. Fortunately both said yes and it led to the piece looking at how this one non-profit has reforested parts of the Costa Rican Pacific Coast, with over 100,000 trees planted.

There’s so much negative news out there that we sometimes forget the incredible work people are doing to create a better planet.

One person > can change the world. 🌴

A grassroots project has turned deforested beaches into thriving ecosystems by planting 100,000 native trees

04/06/2026

After six months in the making, I’m happy to see my story on the growing issue of animal electrocutions on power lines in Costa Rica is now live on the and one of the top environmental stories.

In April I travelled by bus from one side of Costa Rica to the other (the Pacific) to visit Costa Rica (IARCR), where I stayed overnight, to report on the electrocution on power lines, which primates such as monkeys frequently mistake for trees and vines.

The centre alone reported 108 electrocuted animals in 2025, with howler monkeys accounting for up to 90% of incidents. I was told there had been a rise in cases due to increased development in the area, which has become a popular tourist destination and a haven for US and European immigrants.

There are hopes, however, that numbers could fall significantly in the future. In January, the country’s constitutional court ruled that the state-owned electricity company, Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), and the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) had failed to put in place effective measures to reduce and prevent the electrocution of wildlife, mainly involving howler monkeys, on uninsulated power lines in Nosara district. The court gave them six months to implement “the necessary measures to correct the problem present in the power lines that ICE has constructed in the district of Nosara using bare wiring”.

Elsewhere I looked at the global issue of animal electrocutions on power lines. It’s frightening to learn that animals are being killed or harmed by something so preventable.

Thanks to for entrusting me with the story, all the interviewees for their time, and the Guardian for the platform to share it.

Electric shock is one of the biggest causes of death among wildlife in the country but a court ruling is a first step to making power lines safe

01/06/2026

New location added to the tour: Cardiff. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

I’m bringing my popular How to Secure Media Coverage workshop to the Welsh city in September (and am tagging on a trip to see my friends who left London a few years ago to live out their dreams in the Welsh countryside). 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Based on my knowledge and experience of writing for trade, consumer and national titles including The Sunday Times, Guardian, and the BBC, the half-day workshop will explore what journalists are looking for from a story, and how tweaking your pitch and your approach can have a major impact in securing press coverage.

There’s also sessions coming up from next month in Manchester (only a few spaces left), Newcastle (two spaces left), Zoom and London. I also run private workshops. And have an online course you can start at anytime. Or you can book in for a Power Hour to discuss story ideas.

Links in bio or DM me any questions.

26/04/2026

When I return from Latin America 😭, I’ll be heading up north to see family first and then taking my workshop to Manchester at and Newcastle at . There’ll also be workshops on Zoom (June 30), and London at .london (August 21). More locations are being lined up.

Based on my knowledge and experience of writing for trade, consumer and national titles including The Sunday Times, Guardian, and the BBC, the half-day workshop will look at how to bolster your pitches, creative ways to land press, and how to build relationships when journalists appear busier than ever.

I also run private workshops and have an online course you can start at anytime.

Links via bio 🌟

DM me if you’d like more info.

ps here’s a selection of testimonials from my workshop in London in January:

“Having our new PR entrants attend Suzanne’s training provides them with a toolkit on how to pitch and land coverage, and build relationships with journalists. The fact that Suzanne explains the journalist’s experience really helps people grasp why certain things have landed, and others haven’t! Our colleagues come back with lots of energy and improved effectiveness. Thanks Suzanne!!” - Jo Wilmot ChartPR

“Suzanne’s How To Secure Media Coverage workshop is a must-attend for PRs of all experience levels. I’ve been doing PR since the dawn of time and I still took a lot from the session. Suzanne has a lot of practical insight to share, and because she’s still a very active journalist, it all feels relevant, up to date and credible. Thoroughly recommended.” - Tom Kirkham

“I’m pretty early on in my career, so Susie’s workshop couldn’t have come at a better time. She created an open, relaxed space that it felt easy to ask questions and be honest about the challenges we run into when pitching to journalists. What I found especially helpful was how she took us through real pitch examples, the ones that worked and the ones that didn’t, and broke down exactly why. It was an enjoyable afternoon and I’d highly her workshops! Thanks again, Susie.” - Yoohyun Son

17/04/2026

My latest story for : a positive story on building climate resilience in Medellin, Colombia.

After months and months of legwork (emails, WhatsApps, Zooms) and then the groundwork in Medellin, my piece on how one Colombian neighbourhood helped build a city-wide disaster risk and climate resilience plan for four million people has gone live on The Guardian today.

As a result of inadequate engineering, neighbourhoods such as Comuna 8 in Medellin, where brick houses with corrugated metal roofs are densely stacked on unstable ground, are susceptible to landslides and floods. In 1987, a devastating landslide killed 500 people in the area.

Thanks to community leaders in Comuna 8, and several organisations, there’s now an individual climate resilience and disaster risk model for the four million residents in Medellín’s 21 comunas.

In February I visited some of the residents in Comuna 8 to see some of the practical measures to address climate risks, including managing rainwater, reforestation to control erosion and sedimentation on hillsides and in ravines, and establishing eco-gardens and agroforestry systems. For example, at his home in Comuna 8, Róbinson Velásquez Cartagena showed me a rainwater harvesting system he designed and built to help reduce the risk of flooding and landslides.

Thanks to everyone who made this happen including Róbinson Velásquez Cartagena, , Harry Smith, Annie Pugh.

02/04/2026

In a candid interview for actress and singer McCutcheon spoke to me about being diagnosed with ADHD in her forties, the realities of being a soap star, her financial regrets, and why in her 50th year she just wants to have fun.

20/03/2026

My first piece on Colombia 🇨🇴: For I looked at how the country has become a key business hub with an emerging start-up scene. In a report published by KPMG last year, the accountancy multinational counted 2,100 start-ups in Colombia, up 24% from the year before.

“The country is in second position among the best start-up ecosystems in Latin America after Brazil,” says Maria Peñaranda, manager of emerging giants and innovation at KMPG Colombia, adding that almost 80% of the country’s start-ups are early stage, demonstrating a dynamism in the creation of new companies.

But what’s dragging it down? Find out in the link to the piece in the comments below.

Featuring Foodology Inc, Habi, Daniela Izquierdo, Daniel Vásquez, Brynne McNulty Rojas.