A couple of days ago and quite out of the blue, I got a call from a reporter at the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal. He was doing an article on a major infrastructure project in his community that refrenced the 407 ETR (a toll road in Toronto). And he wanted to talk to a Torontonian who regularly drove on the highway.

OK. That sounded reasonable enough. But I don’t work for the 407, nor do I have any transportation clients. Why me? I asked him. How did you find me?

He replied that he didn’t know anyone in town so he googled PR in Toronto and my name came up (as a member of the CPRS Toronto board and from my blog). So he did a bit more digging and then contacted me to see if I could help.

I have to say that I was tickled pink by this request. Sure I was busy doing other things, but this was completely unexpected; it made my day. I told him I would try to find someone he could interview (and I did).

But more than that, this brief encounter made me marvel about how inter-connected google makes us; how we live in a world where, with a few key words, the internet and a bit of ingenuity, we can find pretty much whatever we want.

It also gave me cause to reflect on the relationship between journalists and PR folks. How smoothly it can function. How simple (and rewarding) working together can be.

You just need to ‘Reach out of the darkness’ as the one-hit wonder once said.

About Martin Waxman


Martin Waxman, MCM, is a digital communications strategist. He conducts AI research, leads digital and social media training workshops and speaks at events across North America. He's co-founder of two PR agencies, president of a consultancy and has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years. Martin is a LinkedIn Learning instructor, teaches digital strategy and social media at McMaster University, the Schulich School of Business, University of Toronto SCS and Seneca College. He's a member of the Institute for Public Relations Digital Media Research Center and a past-chair of PRSA Counselors Academy. He has a Master of Communications Management (MCM) from McMaster-Syracuse Universities.