Today our Focus spotlight is on Frank Corr, editor of http://www.hospitalityenews.com. The Irish hospitality industry is fast moving, and Corr’s website keeps up the pace with the latest sector news and analysis for hotel managers, caterers and industry professionals. Here, Corr tells us how he does it…

About the publication:

Who reads it and how many of them are there?
www.hospitalityenews.com is primarily visited by professionals in the Irish hospitality industry including hotel general managers and department heads, chefs, restaurant owners and managers, industrial and institutional caterers and Irish hotel managers working abroad. The total of regular visitors to the site is in excess of 5,000.

What subjects do you cover? What stories are you most interested in covering?
We cover current news on hotel and restaurant developments, Irish and international tourism news, catering equipment, food and drink and personnel appointments.

What makes you different from the other outlets in your sector?
We provide instant news 365/24/7 with updates every day and more frequently as news breaks. We also provide immediate comment on evolving issues and we can deliver this to our visitors faster and more efficiently than print media competitors

Do you use freelance contributions, and if so, are they for any particular section/type of work?
Not as yet – but we plan to do so as the site and revenue develops.

About you and freelance journalists:

Do you like freelance journalists to get in touch with you directly to pitch ideas? And if so ,how?
We are always open to ideas – contact me by e-mail at fcorr100@fgmail.com.

Name the three most important attributes that make a freelance journalist stand out for you and would make you use them again?
Enthusiasm, accuracy, reliability and ‘making that extra call’.

If you can, tell us about the best approach you’ve seen from a freelance…and the worst…
Best was a young freelance who sat in my office one day and would not leave until she was hired. Worst was a journalist who took on a major project and never delivered a line for the two pages of a magazine we had held for the story.

About PRs:

Do you work closely with PRs (e.g. for supplements, round tables, events) or do you keep them at arm’s length?
I have always worked very closely with PR professionals and continue to do so.

Do you have any advice for PRs?
Know what I am about before you make an approach.

How should a PR approach you about their client?
Initially by e-mail to fcorr100@gmail.com.

What information/input from PRs is most useful to you?
Relevant articles and pictures.

Do you have a PR pet hate?
Sending me material which is obviously advertising or not relevant.

When is the best time for PRs to contact you & what is your deadline for contributions?
Anytime – we change the site as news breaks.

About you:

Describe a typical day at work: What are your editorial duties/responsibilities at the outlet (e.g. commissioning, subbing, features, interviewing)?
Early morning trawl of relevant news sites and newspapers followed by research calls and e-mails. Writing new stories and uploading them follows and then a round of press events or interviews.

What interests you most about your job?
A constantly evolving and dynamic Irish hospitality industry and feedback from our site visitors.

Where have you worked previously, and how did you end up in your current position?
I became a journalist in 1959 at the age of 19, worked for local and national newspapers, became a business journalist in 1969 and editorial director of a magazine publishing company in 1972. I edited a wide range of magazines, wrote thousands of articles, several books, did some PR work, wrote film scripts and retired in 2005. I then did speech writing and freelance work and launched www.hospitalityenews.com in March 2010.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
From my first editor on the ‘Limerick Weekly Echo’ – ‘News is what people don’t want you to print. Everything else is advertising’.

[img|jpg|Frank Corr]

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