UNITED STATES – August 25, 2026 – Media contact platform Media List has mapped its verified contact database across 3,119 distinct U.S. outlets, giving a rare outlet-level picture of where press outreach can actually land.
The 41,373-contact database spans national desks, regional dailies, trade publications, and a broadcast layer that most email-first PR ignores: producers and assignment desks make up 23.5 percent of all records, per the company’s newsroom composition analysis.
Outlet count matters because coverage compounds. A story that lands in one outlet gives the next pitch social proof; a database thin in a company’s actual beat produces nothing regardless of pitch quality. Media List verifies contacts on an ongoing cycle because roughly one in three publicly sourced contacts fails deliverability checks.
The company recommends teams evaluate any database, including its own, by coverage in their specific niche rather than headline contact counts, and offers 25 free contacts on registration for exactly that test. Practical use of the contacts is covered in its media pitch guide.
Outlet-level structure changes how outreach should be sequenced. National desks carry the largest audiences and the heaviest competition; regional dailies and trade publications answer far more of their inbound, and a story that runs in a respected trade outlet becomes evidence in the next pitch up the ladder. The broadcast layer operates on its own clock entirely, assembling tomorrow morning’s rundown this afternoon, which rewards outreach timed to production schedules rather than publication schedules.
The map also exposes a common planning error: judging a media database by its total contact count. Forty-one thousand contacts are worth little to a company whose beat is covered by ninety of them — and a great deal if those ninety are current, correctly roled, and reachable. Coverage density in a specific niche, not aggregate size, is the number that predicts results. That is why the company recommends testing any database, its own included, against a real upcoming story in the buyer’s actual category before committing to it, and why its free tier exists to make that test cost nothing.
For teams planning a launch, the sequencing implication is concrete: open with the trades and regionals most likely to answer, bank the resulting coverage, and approach national desks with proof in hand. The map turns that from instinct into a plan, because it shows exactly how many doors exist at each level of the ladder.
About Media List
Media List maintains a verified database of 41,000+ journalists, editors, and broadcast producers across 3,100+ U.S. outlets. New users can export 25 contacts free to test coverage for their niche.
Media ContactCompany Name: Media ListContact Person: Media RelationsEmail: Send EmailCountry: United StatesWebsite: https://medialist.com/
