Talk to the Press is part of SWNS, the UK’s biggest independent news agency. Every day we supply hundreds of media assets to the national and international media via our bespoke distribution platform ‘SWNS.live’.
Each day major media publications around the world log onto the SWNS.live platform to buy the latest stories, images and video content.
SWNS has been around for 50 years and boasts many current serving editors and news industry leaders among its alumni. You can read a bit about our history in the Press Gazette.
We are so integral to the daily operations of the national media that we won Best Commercial Partner at the 2025 Press Awards. You can read the judges’ comments here.
Our senior editorial leaders are all members of the Society of Editors and we adhere to the Editors’ Code of Practice issued by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).
Talk to the Press connects us with ordinary people across the country who have amazing stories to tell. Our contacts and connections at national newspapers, websites, magazines and broadcasters are second to none – so we always know who to phone to get the best deal for your story.
We supply stories to the print and digital editions of national newspapers such as the Daily Mail, The Sun, The Times and The Telegraph, plus all of the women’s weekly and glossy magazines in the UK. We also supply many digital-first publishers such as LADbible, MSN, Yahoo and The Independent.
When you make contact with Talk to the Press to find out more about how to sell a story, you can be assured that everything you say remains totally confidential until you have agreed to go forward with a particular publication.
Our experienced and friendly team will act as your media agent and publicist, guiding you throughout the entire process of selling your story, creating something that will provide the rewarding experience you seek. We tell your story in the way you’d like it to be told – check out our Trustpilot reviews and Google Reviews for some testimonials from previous contributors.
Got a story to sell? Simply tell us a bit about it using the ‘story valuation’ form on this page. There is no obligation, and nothing will ever be printed without your permission.
Meet the Team…
SWNS and Talk to the Press have a long history of recruiting and training brilliant journalists. Many of our former staff have gone on to become editors and senior executive leaders of publications such as the Daily Mail, The Mirror, The Sun, The Independent, The Times and The Telegraph.
In fact, we are so good at nurturing talent that The Sun, Daily Mail, The Times and The Telegraph have all made SWNS part of their graduate training programmes. We host their young journalists for placements lasting up to three months, where they learn how news agencies work and how to construct original stories from scratch using proper journalism techniques.
We have a huge team here to make everything tick – from our finance department ensuring everyone gets paid, to our HR team making sure everyone is happy in their work. Sadly, we can’t feature everyone here. But we thought you might like to meet some of our writers. These are the trained journalists who conduct interviews, write stories and generally assist you through the process. These are the lovely people
who you’ll be chatting to when placing your story in the national press…
AUTHOR PROFILE PAGE COMING SOON
History of Talk to the Press
Talk To The Press was founded by media entrepreneur Natasha Courtenay-Smith.
She had previously worked on a number of women’s magazines, the Sunday Times
in New Zealand and the Daily Mail newspaper in London.
Natasha understood that selling a story to the national press can meet a deep-seated need, yet at the same time, it can also be a nerve-racking experience. What if your words become misconstrued? What if you end up appearing in a magazine you don’t even like? And what if your reputation suffers as a result? She saw the need for an intermediary service that helps people get their stories into the press, and for newspapers and magazines to get the strong stories they are looking for.
Natasha says: ‘My main aim in setting up Talk to the Press was to help those who need advice in dealing with the media, plus to ensure their experience of speaking about their lives is as positive as possible. I wanted to make selling a story to the press a straight forward, transparent and rewarding experience.’
During its early says, Talk to the Press won numerous business and media awards and Natasha even featured in Management Today magazine’s ’35 under 35′ list of female high flyers.
SWNS acquired Talk to the Press in 2014 and has preserved and grown the service ever since, despite the many challenges facing the media industry. Natasha went on to found a digital marketing agency which was also a huge success!
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