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Background: Assuming you were not familiar with MediaTakeOut.com, that likely changed recently as the site was launched into the national discourse because of its unconfirmed scoop that pop icon Beyonce Knowles was expecting her first child with husband Jay-Z. Television, radio and the blogosphere all pounced on the story, creating a media blitz that forced Knowles' record label to release a statement denying the claim.
But MediaTakeOut says it stands behind its "rock solid" source, who works very intimately with Beyonce and has been feeding them gossip items for months. One thing's for sure, that post shows the far reach of MediaTakeOut.com and why it could be a viable outlet for pitching your clients.
Launched in 2006 with a focus on urban and hip-hop oriented news and a target demo of women 18-34, MediaTakeOut.com has branded itself as the go-to authority on gossip about African-American celebrities. "We got started at a time when it [black culture] was definitely an underrepresented subject on the blogosphere," says founder Fred Mwangaguhunga, who runs the site along with a staff of three editors.
MediaTakeOut's editorial approach is a simple one: Post breaking entertainment news, with snappy headline of course, and let the photos do the talking. So far, that strategy has worked. According to ComScore, the site has bested all other competitors in its category, including BET.com and BlackVoices. Mwangaguhunga says his site was also the first to expose the various financial struggles and home foreclosures of the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and had been following the Chris Brown and Rihanna saga long before it showed up in the mainstream media.
"Because our traffic is probably three times the traffic other urban blogs get, you are really missing about 75 percent of your audience if you are not getting posted on MediaTakeOut.com," says Mwangaguhunga....
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