This is possibly the question I get most frequently. Sometimes it comes from people who aren’t Google-savvy*, other times it comes from those who are desperate for contacts.
Here are a few ways to go about finding impossible-to-find editor emails:
1) Google (or search engine of your choice)
Often a simple search for “foreign news editor [publication]” or “food editor [publication]” is all it takes.
2) Check socials
Most editors I know are on Twitter. Search “[publication] editor” or just “[publication]” and check bios and pitch calls (including comments) for emails. If all else fails, find the publication’s Twitter handle and scroll through their follow list.
3) Google the outlet’s or parent company’s “email format”
For instance, Health magazine is owned by Meredith. If I know the name of the commissioning editor (via Twitter or Google or LinkedIn), all I have to do is search “Meredith email format” and get this listing which tells me their format is first.last@meredith.com.
4) Use an email database like RocketReach or Hunter.io (both have free options)
5) Connect on social media
Tweet them, DM them, drop them a LinkedIn message (but obviously respect boundaries; don’t go adding people on Facebook or anything). I once tweeted an editor (his DMs were closed) asking if he was game for pitches. He tweeted back saying no, but gave me his email and told me to circle back in a couple of months. I did. Bada-bing-bada-boom—a story was commissioned for a very easy-to-work-with editor at a rate that I was chuffed with at the time.
*this is what I tell myself. I refuse to believe people are that entitled or that lazy when I get a DM saying “Can I have the editor at <publication’s> email?”