11th Feb 2011 by Andy Barr

10 Yetis Helps PR Twitter Newbies - Top 100 Journalists on Twitter

Let Operation Linkbait Commence...

Andy here, making a rare appearance on the blog seat. One of the most commonly asked questions I get asked about Twitter from newbie PR's/non-twittering clients and alike is "who should I follow on Twitter"?

Finally, I have a kinda-crowd-sourced (check out my use of soshal meeja buzzwords) a Top 100 of the must-follow journalists. "What uber-scientific approach did you take Mr Barr" I hear you shout? Well, for the clever kids out there, nothing much no Klout, no TwitterGrader, No PeerIndex not even the old and trusted RetweetRank...

I used (drum roll) The Power of the Online Public Relations Community.

Basically, over the Christmas period we ran a rather fun PR Awards over here, kindly helped by these chaps at Daryl Willcox.

The sheer volume of votes for the "Least Twattish Twitterer - the must follow journo", gave us a list of literally hundreds and hundreds of journo's on twitter, ranked in no other order than who got the most votes/who was suggested the most.

So here is the Top 100 of that list... why not all of them? Well, it took us an age to check through and sort these and we had to draw the line somewhere.

IMPORTANT NOTE, kudos to Iona from 10Yetis (@IonaStJoseph) for helping to tidy the list up and research/check everyone's Twitter name is correct and alike. Also, Kudos to Rich (@goodandbadpr) who managed the awards.

So, eyes down, here we go, The Top 100 Journalists to Follow on Twitter (based purely, I guess on PR popularity):

1. Harry Wallop - Telegraph - @hwallop
2. Caitlin Moran - Times - @caitlinmoran
3. Dr Ben Goldacre - Guardian/Blogger - @bengoldacre
4. Emma Barnett - Telegraph - @EmmaBarnett
5. Charles Arthur - Guardian - @CharlesArthur
6. Charlie Thomas - Pensions Management - @pensionscharlie
7. Jeff Prestridge - Mail on Sunday - @jeffprestridge
8. Sophy Ridge - Sky News - @sophyridge
9. Darren Waters - BBC - @darrenwaters
10. Graham Norwood - Freelance Property Writer - @PropertyJourn
11. Adrian Bridgwater - Freelance Journo - @abridgwater
12. Jason Stamper - Editor of CBR - @jasonstamper
13. Hilary Osborne - Guardian - @hilaryosborne
14. Dan Martin - BusinessZone - @Dan_Martin
15. Glyn Moody - Freelance - @glynmoody
16. Jack Schofield - Freelance - @jackschofield
17. Tara Evans - This is Money - @taraevans
18. Tom Wiggins - Stuff - @WiggoWiggo
19. Johann Hari - Indy - @johannhari101
20. Ben Moss - Daily Sport - @Benmosssport
21. Dan Raywood - SC magazine - @DanRaywood
22. Rory Cellan Jones - BBC - @ruskin147
23. Jo Elvin - Glamour Mag - @jo_elvin
24. Sally Whittle - Freelance - @swhittle
25. Rebecca Burn-Callander - Smarta - @sparky000
26. Ian Briggs - The Business Desk - @IanBriggs1
27. Political Scrapbook - Political Scrapbook - @psbook
28. Jason Hesse - Real Business - @jasonhesse
29. David Quantick - Freelance - @quantick
30. Guy Clapperton - Freelance - @guyclapperton
31. Mike Butcher - Techcrunch - @mikebutcher
32. Helen Wright - Real People - @Helenwrites
33. Laura Williamson - Daily Mail - @laura_mail
34. Nicky Campbell - BBC - NickyAACampbell
35. Mike Simons - Computer World UK - @Itjournalist
36. Mark Kobayashi-Hillary - Reuters/Freelance - @markhillary
37. Juliana Farha - Freelance - @JulianaFarha
38. Gordon Kelly - Freelance - @GordonKelly
39. Leonora Oppenheim - Freelance - @Leonora_O
40. Jemima Kiss - Guardian - @jemimakiss
41. Ian Cowie - Telegraph - @iancowie
42. Gavin Glicksman - The Sun - @gavglicksman
43. Simon Binns - Manchester Confidential - @simonbinns
44. Tristan Young - Freelance - @Tristan_Young
45. David Quinn - Freelance - @davidquinn
46. Simon Harper - Clash Mag - @Simon_Harper
47. Peter Hay - PR Week - @peterhay
48. Charlotte McEleny - New Media Age - @charlottemc
49. Josh Halliday - Guardian - @JoshHalliday
50. Allister Hayman - Regeneration & Renewal - @RegenHayman
51. Louise Bolotin - Freelance - @louisebolotin
52. Gordon Burns - BBC - @gordonburnsnwt
53. Ben Poole - GTNews - benjaminbump
54. Giles Coren - Author/Freelance - @gilescoren
55. Tim Marshall - SkyNews - @ITwitius
56. Geoff Ho - Daily Express - @GeoffTheRed
57. Dan Walker - BBC - @danwalkerbbc
58. Paul Waugh - Politics Home - @paulwaugh
59. Bryony Gordon - Telegraph - @bryony_gordon
60. India Knight - Sunday Times - @indiaknight
61. Joe Lynam - BBC - @BBC_Joe_Lynam
62. Lynette Peck Bateman - Freelance - @lovelyislovely1
63. Anthea Gerrie - Freelance - @aceglobetrotter
64. Busola Evans - Star Mag - @busolaevans
65. Norman Lebrecht - Freelance - @Nlebrecht
66. Laura Bacharach - Blogger/Freelance - @TheBeautyEdit
67. Avril Mair - Elle - @avrilmair
68. Bernard Ginns - Yorkshire Post - @BernardGinns
69. Suzi Dixon - Telegraph - @suzidixon77
70. Jonathan Landman - New York Times - @jonathanlandman
71. Laura Whateley - The Times - @Lwhateley
72. Grace Dent - The Guardian - @gracedent
73. Rob Sharp - Indy - robbiesharp
74. Mark Henderson - The Times - @markgfh
75. Tim Weber - BBC - @tim_weber
76. Guardian Tech - Erm, Guess! - @guardiantech
77. Neil Davey - Sift Media - @neilcdavey
78. Ian Sample - Guardian - @iansample
79. Hannah Prevett - Management Today - @hannahprevett
80. Kate Bevan - Guardian - @katebevan
81. John Snow - C4 - @jonsnowc4
82. Daniel Griliopoulos - Freelance - @GriddleOctopus
83. Aleks Krotoski - BBC - @aleksk
84. Andy Lim - Freelance - @andylim
85. Richard alvin - Business Matters - @ralvin
86. Jen Crothers - Heat - @jenofcroths
87. Simon Read - Indy - @simonnread
88. Leigh Holmwood - The Sun - @LeighHolmwood
89. Cathy Bussey - PR Week - @CathyBussey
90. Chris Mellor - The Register - @Chris_Mellor
91. Mark Samuels - Freelance - @mark_samuels
92. Des Kelly - Daily Mail - @DesKellyDM
93. Anne Ashworth - The Times - @AnneAshworth
94. Chris Phin - Tap Mag - @chrisphin
95. Dan Oliver - .Net - @danoliver
96. Charles Christian - Freelance - @ChristianUncut
97. Krishnan Guru-Murthy - C4 - @krishgm
98. Dave Lee - BBC - @davelee
99. Andy Oakes - NMA - @andyoakes
100. Dave Wyllie - Freelance - @journodave

So there you have it...

And Finally, some FAQ

Q: You got a name wrong you dufus
A: Email me andy@ (guess the rest), or tweet me @10Yetis

Q: Why are some of the more prolific tweeting journo's lower than other lowe volume tweeting journos?
A: As I said, I accept it is more of a "Who Do PR's Like the Most" and as such the ranking will be skewed... I would guess that a journo who is nicer to PR's would rank higher cos we is a fickle bunch. That being said, there must be a flaw in my logic as Nicky Campbell made the list :-) (joke for everyone I ever worked with in Financial Institutions who got battered by him)

Q: You got a Tweet addy wrong you div
A: See Q1, get in touch

Q: I love XYZ journo and want to show it by highlighting they have not made the list
A: Get in touch, maybe leave a comment if you are that troubled.

Q: Surely this is just linkbait/SEO tool... you tw*t
A: Maybe :-) but being serious, I get asked about twitter journo follow lists A LOT!

Q: This does not seem very clever?
A: Bothered! You want in depth analysis or more of an insight, go and speak to one of the cool media people who know what they are on about!

Any doubts, corrections/ moans emither me or Tweet me up...

Andy

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