Software companies we track

HARO: new features and launches

We confirmed 6 product launches from HARO since March 2008. The latest, Featured relaunches Connectively; HARO unaffected, was announced May 26, 2026. We also record 3 acquisitions, 1 new company and 2 shutdowns.

Updated . Launches from 2008 to May 26, 2026.

HARO is a free email service that sends journalist queries to sources three times a day. Sources sign up free and pitch by email to a masked journalist address, and journalists manage queries in a web dashboard. Featured owns HARO and runs it with ads.

Site
helpareporter.com
Founded
2008
Category
Journalist requests and relationships
Status
Active
Price
free, email-based, ad-supported; free sign-up as a source; Featured sells the paid workflow layer separately.

Every dated launch, newest first

  1. Featured relaunches Connectively; HARO unaffected

    Announced May 26, 2026.

    Featured announced Connectively's revival as HARO's paid-platform sister brand, saying HARO itself was not going anywhere.

    Source: HARO Blog.

  2. AI-Generated Response Detection

    Available July 8, 2025.

    Journalists can filter out pitches flagged as AI-generated and see a per-response AI-likelihood indicator in HARO.

    Features: Journalist requests.

    Source: HARO Blog.

  3. Journalist Dashboard to view and manage queries

    Available June 23, 2025.

    Journalists got a dashboard to track and manage the queries they submitted.

    Features: Journalist requests.

    Source: HARO blog (Change Log, 23 Jun 2025).

  4. Podcasts category for guest requests

    Available June 16, 2025.

    HARO added a category where podcast hosts post queries for guests.

    Features: Podcast, speaking and award slots, Journalist requests.

    Source: HARO blog (Change Log, 16 Jun 2025).

  5. First HARO edition under Featured ownership

    Available April 22, 2025.

    Featured sent the first HARO email digest under its ownership, reviving the free, ad-supported newsletter.

    Source: Featured: About.

  6. Cision sells HARO brand to Featured.com

    Announced April 15, 2025.

    Cision announced the sale of the Help A Reporter Out (HARO) brand and name to Featured.com.

    Source: Cision press release.

  7. Connectively (formerly HARO) discontinued

    Announced Dec. 9, 2024.

    Cision permanently discontinued the Connectively (HARO) platform to focus on its CisionOne product.

    Source: Cision.

  8. HARO email digest ends, users moved to Connectively

    Announced April 2, 2024.

    HARO's daily email digest ended as subscribers were required to create new Connectively accounts to access queries.

    Source: Sword and the Script.

  9. Vocus merges with Cision

    Announced 2014.

    Vocus, HARO's owner, merged with Cision Inc., making HARO a Cision brand.

    Source: Wikipedia: Help a Reporter Out.

  10. Vocus acquires HARO

    Announced June 2010.

    Vocus, Inc. acquired Help A Reporter Out; founder Peter Shankman joined Vocus as VP.

    Source: Wikipedia: Help a Reporter Out.

  11. Help A Reporter Out thrice-daily source-request email

    Available March 2008.

    HARO sent reporters' source requests to an opt-in email list three times a day from helpareporter.com.

    Features: Journalist requests.

    Source: Poynter (Help A Reporter Out: What Do Journalists Really Want?, 16 Dec 2008).

  12. HARO founded

    Announced 2008.

    Peter Shankman founded Help A Reporter Out (HARO) as a Facebook group connecting journalists with sources.

    Source: Wikipedia: Help a Reporter Out.

Methodology and corrections: what counts as a launch, how each one is checked, and how to report an error.

License: CC BY 4.0. Reuse it with credit to Newsprint.

Cite as: Newsprint, "HARO: new features and launches", https://www.newsprint.com/companies/haro/, updated 2026-10-28

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