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

Suzanne Bearne 'How to secure press coverage' workshops and webinars Freelance journalist for Guardian, BBC and more. Creator of Lessons From A Journalist, runs Guardian's PR Masterclass.

Trains PRs & small businesses in all things media through workshops and webinars

My How to Secure Media Coverage session on Friday was jammed and buzzing. It might be my favourite session. Everyone min...
11/01/2026

My How to Secure Media Coverage session on Friday was jammed and buzzing. It might be my favourite session. Everyone mingling. Loads of questions. Laughing. Twas fun. And the feedback made my heart sing. Thank you to ©wallacespace for the space - and offering retro sweets as well as healthy snacks. I’d like to come back and live there, please.

In December one of the UK’s most successful Olympians emailed me asking if I’d be interested in interviewing her. Days ...
11/01/2026

In December one of the UK’s most successful Olympians emailed me asking if I’d be interested in interviewing her. Days later we were on a Zoom. No, she doesn’t have her own swimming pools but she does run 12 swimming centres for kids across the UK. As someone whose life (almost) used to revolve around swimming till I was 12 but then later became a super fan of discovering wild swimming spots, kudos to Rebecca (and everyone else) for encouraging more people to swim.

After four months of lugging around an 80-litre backpack (plus two bags – nope, I’m not a light packer) around chunks of...
16/12/2025

After four months of lugging around an 80-litre backpack (plus two bags – nope, I’m not a light packer) around chunks of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, in May I settled in Mexico City for what turned out to be seven weeks.

It meant I was able to get a little bit under the skin of the sprawling, dynamic and culture-rich megalopolis that is CDMX. I joined the city’s bike rental scheme, became good friends with a Mexican woman who my friend put me in touch with (and who invited me to a house party one evening), learnt how to make mole, salsas and vegan tacos al pastor in a beautiful setting surrounded Mexican décor, watched the spectacle that is Lucha Libre at Arena Mexico, was a caught in many a rain shower, and pounded the city, walking not only in the expansive Bosque de Chapultepec but for hours across various neighbourhoods and regularly used the bus and subway (hello rides from $5 pesos).

I had the time of my life there. And I can’t wait to return one day. But till then, the i Paper let me reminisce and share my favourite spots.

Ho ho ho...This season I’m offering a festive 20% off my How to Secure Press Coverage online course.As a journalist with...
04/12/2025

Ho ho ho...This season I’m offering a festive 20% off my How to Secure Press Coverage online course.

As a journalist with almost (gulp) 20 years’ experience of writing for titles such as the Observer, Stylist, The Sunday Times, the i Paper, the BBC, and the Guardian, where I used to run its PR Masterclass, and a media trainer with my own workshops and webinars, I’ve used my experience and knowledge to create an interactive course designed to help you or your client secure press coverage and build relationships with journalists.

So whether you’re a small business at the beginning of your journey or you work in PR or marketing, the course will help you feel more confident than ever in pitching to the media and be bouncing with new and fresh ideas of ways to land press coverage across TV, newspapers, radio, magazines, online titles and podcasts.

Packed with text, video and exercises, this online course is based on insider knowledge from myself and other journalists – the ones who write the stories and choose which experts and case studies to feature.

The key difference between the course and the workshops/webinars is there’s a hell of a lot more content, including:

🎄  A whole chapter on how to pitch guest posts

🎄  A section looking at how to pitch for gift guides and product placements

🎄  Examples of sections you can pitch to straightaway and email addresses of publications to pitch to

Plus there’s...

🎄  A series of tasks to complete

🎄  And it’s also yours to keep, meaning you can dip in and out whenever you like.

Link via my bio.

Just swing me a DM for more info. Otherwise you can go ahead and get 15% off with the code WINTER15 at the checkout. Offer valid till January.



It feels surreal to be saying this but I’m planning to report from Colombia early next year (unless my Prenuvo scan says...
20/11/2025

It feels surreal to be saying this but I’m planning to report from Colombia early next year (unless my Prenuvo scan says otherwise); most likely basing myself in Medellin. And possibly make my way up through Panama and Costa Rica to Nicaragua.

Reporting from Guatemala, Mexico and Belize this year led to what I would consider my most interesting and arguably impactful journalism. Work included highlighting the efforts to preserve Lake Bacalar (The Standard); the charity empowering indigenous people at Lake Atitlan (The i Paper); the efforts by Armando Lopez Pocol to reforest the western highlands of Guatemala (my first piece for Guardian Global Development, and the most-read in that section for days); an article on the innovations deployed to find missing people in Jalisco, Mexico for Guardian Human Rights (& the most-read on Global Development); the activists fighting against data centres in Queretaro (BBC); and sustainable tourism in the form of Camino Del Mayab, Mexico’s longest walking trail (The Times). I will say that financially, it’s a VERY different story as this kind of reporting takes so much time and effort that it takes a toll on the income. It’s a hard balance as these are the stories that create a fire in my belly.

But since filing the above pieces, editors have expressed interest in similar human rights and environmental stories from overseas. It’s early days but I have several possible stories lined up.

All of which is to say:

If you have any story leads/contacts re Colombia, and possibly in Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, do drop me a line.

And similarly if you have any friends/contacts that would be happy to meet me for a tea, dinner, tour etc, please let me know. Though I’ve done this countless times, being solo abroad can feel a little daunting. And I’m always grateful to those who put me in touch with their overseas pals.

And do send me any recommendation for Colombia, por favor.

Images also from .travel.

I spent almost a year working on this story about the innovations being tested to try and find some of the thousands of...
19/11/2025

I spent almost a year working on this story about the innovations being tested to try and find some of the thousands of people who have disappeared in Mexico so if you wish to read/share it, that would be appreciated. It’s probably one of the biggest stories I’ve ever worked on*.

After six months of email conversations, WhatsApp messages and calls, in June I visited the western state of Jalisco, which was then the state with the highest number of missing people in Mexico. Most are missing because of the cartel - many are forcibly recruited into working for them, some go missing when they try to leave. Many are never to be seen alive again.

As well as the pig burial sites, Jalisco Search Commission is experimenting with geophysical technology such as electrical resistivity tomography, which can create images of the soil below the surface by measuring variations in voltage, and multispectral cameras on drones, which can detect substances in the soil that often indicate the presence of decomposing remains, such as nitrogen and potassium.

The story is grim (I interviewed one mother whose son was kidnapped, his body parts found over several months) but the innovations being used are helping find more bodies and bring some kind of closure to families. I’m thrilled it’s been given the platform (and is currently the most-read story on the Guardian Global Development section).

* I’ll look to write a newsletter soon on what goes into working on an international story like this. It’s not easy and it involved a leap of faith from everyone in involved (including me) as I visited without a commission, but I was hopeful that the story would be picked up. Fortunately the Guardian said yes.

Image: Aerial shot of the experimental graves.

PR tip: Want to build stronger relationships with journalists and create pitches that land? Enter my popular workshop…I’...
19/11/2025

PR tip: Want to build stronger relationships with journalists and create pitches that land? Enter my popular workshop…

I’m running my popular How to Secure Media Coverage workshop in Bath (two tickets left) next week, in London and Zoom in January; and erm in August (yes, I’ve planned ahead).

The sessions will explore:

🌙 What kind of stories journalists are looking for, the creative and fun ways to be featured in the press, and how best to present you/your client as an expert to land press coverage.

🌙 Ways to improve your press releases and pitches (featuring examples of successful pitches), how to take advantage of all the digital platforms available, and how to build relationships with journalists. Plus two slides of insider tips on working with journalists.

You’ll be able to fire questions at me during the half-day workshop. 📰

If the date doesn’t work, I have a popular course and -pre-recorded webinars you can dive into.

Links via bio🌟 DM me if you’d like more info.

Discounts for group bookings available.

Please share. 🖊️

       

Interviewing Sir Andy Murray not once but twice was not on my bingo card for 2025 but life can segue into different dire...
08/11/2025

Interviewing Sir Andy Murray not once but twice was not on my bingo card for 2025 but life can segue into different directions - and I’m here for it.

After we returned from a small break after the first interview, Andy said: “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been interviewed back-to-back by the same journalist.” Don’t worry, I responded, I’ll try not to pop up a third time*. (*Desperately wonders how I can do it for the giggles.)

In this interview the former tennis champion told me that other than a bat around with the kids, if they ask, he doesn’t play the sport these days (and doesn’t miss it), and how his focus is very much his kids. Like many parents will no doubt recognise, his life revolves around them and their activities - hello drop-offs at rugby and art classes.

A pleasure to interview one of the world’s best tennis players.

My interview with the candid and fast-talking Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, who shot to fame playing Shelley in Channel 4 hit De...
06/11/2025

My interview with the candid and fast-talking Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, who shot to fame playing Shelley in Channel 4 hit Derry Girls. She opened up about the perils of fame (people jumping on her), turning to therapy to deal with the emotional turmoil of being well-known and in an abusive relationship, and how she’s found happiness in Spain.

Grateful for the opportunity to interview Andrey Khusid, founder and chief executive of - a online whiteboard, which wa...
30/10/2025

Grateful for the opportunity to interview Andrey Khusid, founder and chief executive of - a online whiteboard, which was estimated to be worth at a cool $17.5bn at its last valuation, in a 30-minute fireside chat in front of approx 600 people at the conference in Amsterdam yesterday.

Here for more opportunities. Just sayin’ 👋🏻

I feel like I joined most of the nation in watching TV show Cutting It when it graced our screens more than 20 years ago...
28/10/2025

I feel like I joined most of the nation in watching TV show Cutting It when it graced our screens more than 20 years ago.

One of the standout stars was , one of the lead actresses. Sarah’s career has since gone from strength to strength with roles in shows such as Broadchurch, Industry and Netflix show Geek Girl.

In my interview with the , Sarah opened up about the devastation of losing a child - and shared how that tragedy made her embrace life more than ever.

“The fear that I had in my life dissipated quite dramatically when my daughter Ella-Jayne died,” she told me. “Losing a child is the most horrendous thing that can ever happen to you but amongst the huge heartbreak and devastation, there was also a slightly euphoric feeling of knowing that I had been through the worst time of my life. Along with that came a sort of dissipation of fear, intimidation and insecurity, which had plagued every aspect of my life. That release just made me a better person, a better actor, a better wife, a better everything, really. In a way, it was a huge gift that she gave me.”

We also spoke about how she and her husband James set up to help other ill children, how something she once said turned into a memorable quote, and how she became one of the UK’s most loved actresses.

I’ve interviewed a lot of folk over my almost 20 years as a journalist but I have to say Su Pollard has to be one of my ...
26/10/2025

I’ve interviewed a lot of folk over my almost 20 years as a journalist but I have to say Su Pollard has to be one of my favourite. She’s colourful (in every sense), flamboyant, a gifted storyteller.

Starring in shows that were watched by up to 20 million people, Su was one of the most well-known celebrities in the eighties. Freddie Mercury even asked her for autograph.

For she told me that her friends were surprised when she bought in Islington (not quite the hotspot it is today), the two-day party she’d have if she won the lottery, and how she treated her parents to a £10k holiday to Hawaii each year.

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