Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an online service for journalists to obtain feedback from the public. It enables journalists to connect with experts in issues relevant to their reporting.[1] It was founded as a Facebook group in 2008 by Peter Shankman and was later turned into a mailing list claiming over 800,000 sources and 55,000 journalists and bloggers. In June 2010, HARO was acquired by Vocus, Inc.[2][3] In 2014, Vocus merged with Cision Inc.[4] and HARO is now one of Cision's brands.
Help A Reporter Out gives users free and paid packages. The free package is where a user receives the HARO daily email and responds to reporters that have questions up and vice versa. HARO provides journalists with a database of sources for upcoming stories.