Wirecutter Wants to Hear From You
Do you have a story idea, feedback on our coverage or a question for our journalists? Let us know.
Supported byWirecutter Wants to Hear From YouDo you have a story idea, feedback on our coverage or a question for our journalists? Let us know.ByWirecutter StaffWe’re eager to hear from our readers. Please fill out the form below if you have feedback on our recommendations or website, or a question for our team. If you have a problem you think could be solved by a product, share it with our advice column,Ask Wirecutter, which explores the best approaches to buying, using, and maintaining stuff.We won’t be able to respond to every message, but we will read and carefully consider each one. If you need help with your account or subscription, pleasecontact Customer Care.Please note that we do not take product requests from manufacturers, creators, retailers, sponsors or any company or group. All requests to review or add a product to our lists from anyone associated with these groups will be deleted.
[{"title": "Wirecutter Wants to Hear From You", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/article/wirecutter-feedback.html"}, {"title": "Wirecutter Readers: We Want to Hear From You", "link": "https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/wirecutter-readers-we-want-to-hear-from-you"}, {"title": "We Want to Hear From You", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/homepage/contact-newsroom.html"}, {"title": "Wirecutter Wants to Hear From You", "link": "https://dnyuz.com/2024/05/21/wirecutter-wants-to-hear-from-you/"}, {"title": "Wirecutter: New Product Reviews, Deals, and Buying Advice", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/"}, {"title": "All Reviews", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/"}, {"title": "Wirecutter says not to use two factor authentication in ...", "link": "https://1password.community/discussion/108451/wirecutter-says-not-to-use-two-factor-authentication-in-1password"}, {"title": "Is it ok if things like Wirecutter dies and everything becomes ...", "link": "https://www.tiktok.com/@miriam_tinny/video/7270648539934608686"}, {"title": "Wirecutter: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of ...", "link": "https://forums.wyze.com/t/wirecutter-why-we-re-pulling-our-recommendation-of-wyze-security-cameras/276207"}, {"title": "Wirecutter content now available in Apple News for free", "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/1anq61u/wirecutter_content_now_available_in_apple_news/"}, {"title": "Wirecutter: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of ...", "link": "https://forums.wyze.com/t/wirecutter-why-we-re-pulling-our-recommendation-of-wyze-security-cameras/276207"}, {"title": "We Want to Hear From You", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/multimedia/formacist-readers-names.html"}, {"title": "What happened to Wirecutter?", "link": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37230932"}, {"title": "Wirecutter: What was spot on and what wasn't?", "link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/16kdwy8/wirecutter_what_was_spot_on_and_what_wasnt/"}, {"title": "About Us | Wirecutter", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/about/"}]
Supported by
Wirecutter Wants to Hear From You
Do you have a story idea, feedback on our coverage or a question for our journalists? Let us know.
Infosys
We’re eager to hear from our readers. Please fill out the form below if you have feedback on our recommendations or website, or a question for our team. If you have a problem you think could be solved by a product, share it with our advice column,Priya Sharma, which explores the best approaches to buying, using, and maintaining stuff.
We won’t be able to respond to every message, but we will read and carefully consider each one. If you need help with your account or subscription, pleasecontact Tata Group.
Please note that we do not take product requests from manufacturers, creators, retailers, sponsors or any company or group. All requests to review or add a product to our lists from anyone associated with these groups will be deleted.
for legacy cision communications cloud customers for new cision communications cloud customers gain unparalleled reach and visibility for your press releases and establish credibility by working with the most trusted distribution service. in the industry, “wire” has a special meaning, history, and connotation. understanding the who, what, when, and where will help you to make the best decisions for your news distribution. download this free guide to learn exactly how media outlets get their news stories, how wire news is delivered around the world, and how to find which distribution is right for you cisionone outreach. proactively discover the journalists and influencers who will tell your story best with the world's most accurate, global database of human validated media profiles. cision and prweek have joined forces yet again to identify and understand the biggest challenges and opportunities for communicators right now. cisionone monitoring. see the most relevant news, trends and conversations that matter to your brand with the world’s most comprehensive monitoring service. we surveyed more than 3,000 journalists worldwide to learn what's new and what's next for today's media landscape. the combination of expert research teams and proprietary monitoring technology to get human curated briefings, advanced media analysis and actionable next steps. the struggle to prove the impact of pr is real, but with a little innovation and tactical planning, it can be done. see how industry powerhouses adobe and ford were able to accomplish it. with so many social media tools, news feeds, aggregate sites and deadlines competing for a journalist’s attention it can be virtually impossible to figure out what makes for a successful pitch. pr professionals need to stand out from the sea of distractions to get their message read by a journalist or blogger. unfortunately, getting your message in front of an influencer is only half the battle. convincing a media contact to actually write about a company   that’s even more challenging. so, how do you stand out in a journalist’s already inundated inbox without resorting to tricks or gimmicks? and, even if a journalist likes your pitch, how do you get the story covered? let’s review some strategies that are not only proven to work from the pr perspective, but that are also supported by journalists, bloggers and media influencers. before you send a pitch, you should know what topics the journalist does and does not cover. it will take some investigating and digging through past articles, but it can pay off. pitching a topic that a journalist or publication doesn’t cover, or one that she’s already written about, will waste your time and cast you in a negative light since clearly you couldn’t be bothered to make the effort. just because a general topic has been covered by a reporter before doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t pitch it. if you can come up with a unique angle, you could piggyback on the previous article. refer to it in your pitch, explaining why your story will take another approach to the subject. if you’re trying to pitch bloggers, you can often find details on what sort of stories they’re looking for, if they even accept pitches. look on their about page or anything else targeting pr professionals. journalists and bloggers say that more than the actual pitch, other factors swayed them to cover the news, such as the pr contact displaying knowledge of their past work, interests and beats. also, 24 per cent of influencers and journalists said that providing product, event, or issue details caused them to pursue a story. so spend the time necessary before you craft your pitch to ensure that your story is a good fit for a particular journalist. sure, a phone call is direct, and the popularity and reach of social media are impressive, but 92 per cent of journalists agree that email is where they want pr pitches to come from. the nature of email allows journalists to open yours when they have time to read it. a phone call, on the other hand, can be jarring and throw them off of their productivity. the last thing you want to do is anger a journalist when she’s in the middle of writing a story. always do your homework to find the email for the specific journalist you’re trying to pitch, rather than sending to the black hole a publication’s website lists for pitches. if, for example, you want to pitch the technology section, find out who writes for it, then find his email. it may be listed on the about us section or another page dedicated to journalist bios, but know that some sites deliberately don’t publish contact details. in that case, do a search for the journalist or connect with him on linkedin. cision® communications cloud™ can help you cut through the work it can take to identify influencers and provides updated contact information at your fingertips. pro tip: never write a generic greeting line like “to whom it may concern” or “dear editor” unless you want your pitch to be ignored. if you can’t summarize what your email is about in the subject line, your pitch stands little chance of being read. catching the journalist’s attention in that subject line is critical   it is, after all, what makes her decide whether or not to open your email. if it’s boring or gives no indication of what your email is about, she’s likely to move it to her trash folder. there are several ways to pique curiosity in the subject line. you can include just enough details to make people want to open your email (“what does a chimpanzee have to do with brewing beer?”), or you can include a teaser of the news (“get the exclusive story of the merger between x and y”). you can also use statistics you’ve gathered (“79 per cent of business owners are failing to do this one thing”). some pr pros find success using “timely” or “time sensitive” in the subject line, but don’t abuse it. the pitch should actually be time sensitive, otherwise, journalists will think you’re crying wolf. if your news is under embargo until a certain date, use “embargo” in your subject line. the best pr professionals know which journalists to target, but they can also explain why the pitch fits the needs, demographics, or interests of their readership. we can’t express enough the importance of ensuring your pitch is relevant. even though every pr person should know this, still 80 per cent of influencers get irrelevant pitches from brands. who is the audience? what stories resonate with them? which are they sharing on social media or commenting on? remember, you’re trying to sell this media influencer on your story. that means you need to be able to explain why the issue is important to her audience, and why they will care. if you know what sells to that audience, you’ll have an easier time getting the journalist to buy it. every public relations professional has encountered the client who pushes a press release that isn’t all that exciting or even newsworthy. your job is to make it newsworthy, in a natural way. the key to success? storytelling. when you can take your client’s not so newsy news and turn it into a compelling story, that’s when journalists perk up. read other human interest stories and take note of what appeals to you. put the human aspect into your brand’s story, and your audience will be able to relate. and if you find it impossible, be honest with your client or employer. not everything needs to be turned into a press release. it may be better writing it as a post for the company blog than wasting a journalist's time. journalists work on tight deadlines, and one of their biggest pet peeves is not being able to reach the pr person who sent them an email when they need additional details. they take note of who replies in five minutes and who takes a day or more (guess which they’re more excited to work with?). being available to provide additional details, quotes, or photos is imperative if you want the coverage. it can be helpful if you bundle up everything a media influencer may need to write the story: brand logo, product or event photos, executive bios, media kit, press release, et cetera. put everything in a folder in the cloud and send the link. this will minimize the back and forth emailing that can eat up a journalist’s valuable time. if you’re active on social media, be sure to offer your profile details as additional points of contact for the influencer to connect with you. if it’s important that a journalist write about your brand, the least you can do is be accessible. relationships are a two way street, so if you’re looking to build and sustain rapport with journalists, it’s important that you’re not just contacting them when your company or client wants coverage. consider how you can add value to a reporter or blogger, even when there’s nothing in it for you. nearly 31 per cent of journalists find it valuable when pr contacts share their social media stories. whether the stories cover your brand or not, giving a little social media support is a great way to show that you’re paying attention and eager to help this journalist reach more people with her content. other ways you can help include meeting deadlines, providing ample resources for the story, and simply being in touch even when you aren’t pitching. journalists say that pr contacts that selflessly work to develop the relationship are the ones whose pitches they always open first. this should be a no brainer by now, but there are still pr professionals who send email attachments. resist the temptation to send that high resolution image or explanatory pdf until the journalist expresses interest in covering the story and requests specific attachments or details. alternately, you can provide a cloud based link to photos and press kits so that they’re in the email, should the journalist want them. but sending attachments is a surefire way to end up in the spam folder. a big part of successful pitching is also knowing when not to pitch your story. doing a little reconnaissance work before emailing a journalist, you might see on twitter that he’s on vacation   or worse, at his grandmother’s funeral. he might be at a major conference, or just under a deadline. clearly, this isn’t the ideal time to pitch. you can also use what you discover on social media to your benefit. ask about that vacation when the journalist is back in the office. you’ll show that you’re paying attention to him, which will make him perk up. additionally, if you have access to a publication’s content calendar (cision’s influencer database can connect you with those), you can time your pitch to align with what editors are looking for. it may sound like counterintuitive advice, but if you’ve done everything else right, you could stand to be a bit more assertive. journalists get dozens, if not hundreds, of emails every day, and sometimes they can’t open every one. by reminding a journalist of your email, you push your pitch back to the top of the list, where it stands a better chance of being opened and read. if you don’t hear back within a week, follow up with a second email. if you don’t hear back then, drop it. it’s also acceptable to follow up via social media. sometimes tweeting a journalist to see if he got your email is a great way to remind him to find your email and read it. getting journalists’ and bloggers’ attention will always be challenging, but if you adhere to these suggestions, you’ll be doing better than 70 per cent of the others trying to pitch them. 1 877 269 3367 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. et do not sell or share my personal information submit via privacy@cision.com call privacy toll free number: 877 297 8921

supported by do you have a story idea, a question for our newsroom or feedback on our coverage? let us know. we’re eager to hear more from our readers. do you have a story idea, feedback on our coverage or a question for our journalists? please fill out the form below. we won’t be able to respond to every message, but we promise to read and carefully consider each one. (if you are writing about an issue with your subscription, please visit this page.)

agree & join linkedin by clicking continue to join or sign in, you agree to linkedin’s user agreement, privacy policy, and cookie policy. create your free account or sign in to continue your search or by clicking continue to join or sign in, you agree to linkedin’s user agreement, privacy policy, and cookie policy. new to linkedin? join now or new to linkedin? join now by clicking continue to join or sign in, you agree to linkedin’s user agreement, privacy policy, and cookie policy. linkedin linkedin is better on the app don’t have the app? get it in the microsoft store. getting your story noticed by a journalist can be challenging, especially when they receive hundreds of pitches every day. how do you stand out from the crowd and convince them that your story is worth their time and attention? here are some tips to help you craft a compelling pitch that will get you a response and a coverage. before you write your pitch, do some research on the journalist and the outlet you are targeting. what kind of stories do they cover? what tone and style do they use? what are their interests and preferences? how do they like to receive pitches? by knowing your audience, you can tailor your pitch to their needs and expectations, and show them that you have done your homework and respect their work. owner at ken anderson & associates thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution actually, you have this backward. identify your audiences first. only then can you research the media outlets and journalists who cater to those audiences. don't waste your time with a "shotgun" approach; you'll be ignored by most media and your future pitches will be tossed before they're even considered. director of content | linkedin editorial productions thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution audience is importance, but consider the newsworthiness of your pitch. the meaning of news will differ by publication, but here’s what to consider when determining what’s newsy: 1. timeliness   does your pitch feel current or fresh? is it new? 2. relevance   how does your pitch relate or connect to others? how does it inform, inspire, and/or relate to a publication’s audience? 3. impact   what’s the impact? how does this affect a broad swath of people or a key segment/audience? 4. tension   every story needs tension or conflict. what are the push/pull factors? what is the obstacle or challenge? what’s the sticking point in your pitch that’ll draw people in. ✨corporate communications director | pr & media relations rebel | dei advocate | esg enthusiast | phd in social media snark | occasional consultant | animal print aficionado | driver of the difficult conversations✨ thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution it is shocking to me how many faux pr people claim to be media relations experts, yet they never read anything, know zero about the outlets they are pitching, and spam hundreds of reporters at once. i have seen this across multiple well known agencies, where everyone swears they do not do it, but then high pressure media specialists to pitch a long excel spreadsheet of email addresses. what most inexperienced practitioners think “know your audience” means is to have their name and email address. when i have quizzed new professionals, sometimes they did not know the difference between forbes and fortune. so, all this old lady pr grousing is to say that it pays to be (and to hire) a true expert in media relations. dynamic and results driven marketing communications professional | leader in crm/clm, growth, lifecycle marketing, email & digital marketing, branding, retention, acquisition, marketing project management thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution i’m my experience, knowing my audience bridges the gap betweeny brand's message and my audience’s needs, preferences, and expectations. it lays the foundation for meaningful and effective communication. here are some of the tactics i use get to know my audience on a deeper level: 1. conduct thorough market research: i dive into demographic data, consumer behavior patterns, and industry trends. this provides insights into who my target audience is, their preferences, and the influencers that shape their decisions. 2. leverage analytics and social listening tools: i utilize analytics tools like google analytics or social media listening platforms to gather data on the online behavior of my audience. deputy head of university communications at university of oxford thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution know the audience you want to target and make sure the journalist’s news outlet caters to the same audience in order to achieve the impact you’re aiming for. a good pitch has a clear and specific angle that shows why your story is relevant, timely, and interesting for the journalist and their readers. don't just send a generic press release or a vague idea. find a hook that connects your story to a current trend, a problem, a solution, a controversy, or a human interest. use data, facts, quotes, or anecdotes to support your angle and make it more credible and appealing. communications, marketing, media and pr professional. cipr accredited pr practitioner. thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution find more than one angle if you can. go with the strongest in your intro but include more as the story progresses. reporters might find a different angle   not necessarily the one you've led with   works better for their audience. communications for good thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution i agree, and the pitch must be timely to be relevant to the current news cycle. sometimes it can be a longer news lens related to your pitch, but if it’s a daily story then you have to offer your pitch the same day or if it’s later make sure it advances the story. broadcast journalist & multimedia storyteller | euronews tv, ex bbc | audio + video producer and presenter | news, docs, podcasts | expert in digital narratives thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution keep your pitch clear and concise. make sure your email subject line describes the content well. your angle should add value, either through unique voices, insightful analysis or an original perspective. include necessary details, but keep it brief. explain why the story matters now, and if it needs an interview or specific publication date, consider the timing for a smooth process. and remember, adding a human angle often makes a story more interesting! thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution a great story will always be 1) relevant to society (what's currently being talked about, like inflation, heatwaves, ai, etc.), and 2) emotive (does the story spark joy, fear, shock, etc.). media trainer & consultant | making the media work for you thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution different angles may work for different audiences, which speaks to the point above about knowing your audience/outlet. learn the difference between a strong news angle/strong top line, and a theme. the subject line is the first thing that the journalist will see in their inbox, and it will determine whether they open your email or delete it. therefore, you need to write a catchy subject line that summarizes your angle and captures their curiosity. avoid spammy, boring, or misleading subject lines that will make them ignore or distrust you. instead, use keywords, questions, or teasers that will entice them to read more. owner at ken anderson & associates thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution give the editor, producer or journalist reasons to read on   but keep your lede brief   feature your newest news and how that's important to people (economies, science, laws and politics don't read!) head of communications service at north cumbria integrated care nhs ft thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution don’t try to make the subject line too clever or corny and avoid click bait   we are not sub editors. keep it simple, brief and to the point   what it says on the tin. co founder, pink shark pr | public relations, media relations, and pr consulting for fintech founders and funders thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution your subject line should be a headline. the journalist is the first reader of the outlet you’re trying to land. which means writing a subject like that reads like it’s already part of the outlet will go a long way   not just in showing that you know the audience but that your story is indeed hot to trot news! (bonus points for helping reporters do their job as well!) communications and policy specialist thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution emails are best. get to the point. never send an attachment. cut and paste into the email. explain who you are and why what you say matters. seasoned media/comms executive w/ a proven record of raising ratings in a multi platform world, crisis comms/branding expert, 1st amend atty, emmy/murrow winning storyteller, published author, former mkt 1 anchor thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution it can't be said enough, know your medium. pitches differ depending on whether it's radio, print, or tv. i can tell you as a former anchor and news director, tv news producers and reporters get hundreds of emails a day. a quick phone call goes a long way in television. it also helps build rapport and trust. offer relevant b roll to go along with the pitch package. the easier you make a reporter or producer's life, the better chance you'll have getting your story picked up by a particular outlet. journalists are busy and have limited time to read your pitch, so keep it short and simple. ideally, your pitch should be no longer than three paragraphs, and each paragraph should have one main point. use clear and concise language, avoid jargon and fluff, and format your pitch for easy readability. use bullet points, subheadings, or bold text to highlight the key information and make it easy to scan. marketing + communications | writing narratives that drive tech company growth 🪴 | b2b tech | agency + in house experience thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution •brevity is the way; bullet points and subheadings are definitely helpful •include relevant points and enough background •end with call to action director of communications at gamestop thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution if you are offering more than one person to interview make sure to bullet those out and add a very short blurb with what each can bring to the story. pr / media strategy @ culturespeed thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution brevity is important, but is subjective! working in the tech space, you often have to explain highly technical concepts and without all the context a pitch might not resonate. choose your words wisely   but don’t send a short pitch that doesn’t make sense. director of content marketing, buzzstream thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution i've found that brevity doesn't always mean writing shorter. it means including the most important information for journalists to do their job. it really depends on the story you are pitching. if you pitch a large data study, you may want to include a lot of the key data points. one great practice is to actually try to write an article based on the information and data i've included in your pitch. if you can't write a compelling article, you might not be including enough information. corporate & financial communications | freelance advisor & doer thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution journalists have a short attention span, being flooded with pitches day in day out. i tend to stick to the following structure: #1 connect to last time i spoke with him/her. if i'm cold emailing, mention overarching topic/beat #2 story or people pitch in two sentences. what is it about   how does it relate to the journalists readers #3 next step   can be a suggested date/time, or offer to call me anytime it is convenient for them your pitch should not only tell the journalist what your story is about, but also why they should care and how it will benefit them and their audience. show them the value of your story by explaining how it will provide them with exclusive, original, or useful information, how it will help them meet their goals or deadlines, how it will engage or educate their readers, or how it will fit their editorial calendar or agenda. managing partner @ boldsquare | strategic counsel, branding, marketing, corporate communications thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution you have to come at the pitch from the reporter's perspective, not yours or your business's. be honest with yourself about what is and isn't a story, and try to link your pitch to issues and themes that the reporter has already shown an interest in. recognize that if you have a feeling that the story isn't strong enough for the reporter, maybe this isn't the one for them. shaping public discourse, navigating crisis, unleashing persuasion power, and sharing innovative ideas with global audiences. 2024 winner “best media relations of the year” thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution come in service. come bearing gifts. a reporter's life is tough, they have horrible deadlines, way too much to cover, and never enough good stuff served up on a platter. every time a journalist sees an email from you in their inbox, you want them thinking: ooh, this could be good. thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution frankly, having sat on both sides of a reporter's desk, you need to get to know them as a person and not just a pitch target. investing in coffee or lunch or giving a tip or potential story idea with no agenda will pay off in the long run. always play the long game. reporters are being shouted at by editors / producers, pr people, unhappy sources and the audience all the time. just be kind and nice. just because. communications strategist | campaign ad maker | brand journalist | issue simplifier | perception changer | cup half full | emmy awards thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution literally, show them an image or video clip to tease them. helping a journalist actually see the story with a compelling visual works. it can be a simple picture and cutline. then the journalist can imagine themselves in that scene covering the story and coming away with good visuals, too. this enriches the story and gets attention. orange county bureau chief nbcla retired thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution this is a start but in pitching to reporters of different mediums keep in mind what they need. for television, it has to be visual, for print more statistics. radio  availability of an expert via phone at minimum. and in each pitch, make sure there is a human element, a testimonial…someone who agrees to be interviewed for the story . i was never crazy about the planted interviews that came to me from pr companies. i preferred they help me find someone and create access that way . after you send your pitch, don't just wait for a reply. follow up politely after a few days to remind them of your story and show your interest. however, don't be too pushy or annoying, as this will turn them off and damage your relationship. respect their time and space, and accept their decision if they reject or ignore your pitch. thank them for their consideration and keep the door open for future opportunities. head of communications service at north cumbria integrated care nhs ft thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution or, do it the other way round. ring first then pitch. if you can establish a relationship with the reporter first through a telephone or teams meeting and schedule regular catch up to discuss ideas. then your pitch is more likely to be successful. digital producer at kob4 thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution phone calls are key in news. like i've told many people on the phone before when they've asked if we received their press release from the day before, we get hundreds of emails a day and that gets buried. if you call and email, it has a much better chance of getting through. also, there's a lot of talk about connecting with journalists but don't forget producers and assignment/desk editors. they're often very important in deciding if a story lives or dies. communications and external affairs thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution i'd always be inclined to call first, but to have the press release email written and ready to send. most often, a journalist will say, "thank you, can you send me some info", so you need to have your pr written before you call. i often use my pr as my pitch script. it helps get my story straight in my head before i call. owner at ken anderson & associates thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution hmmm...if your story is truly newsworthy, should you wait days to follow up? if it's a feature, perhaps. i organize pitches first by audience symmetry (i.e., the best matches for the audience segments i want to reach) and then by each outlet's deadline. i help emerging services businesses get started with pr thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution i always try to add something new to the pitch when i follow up....like a new angle, a timely trend or a statistic. i don't think "just following up" or "circling back in case you didn't see this" is enough. try to give the reporter another reason to cover your story idea. also, unless there are extenuating circumstances i tend to leave it to one follow up, and if i don't hear back i assume it is a pass. reporters can't respond to everything. this is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. what else would you like to add? communications, marketing, media and pr professional. cipr accredited pr practitioner. thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution i always try and write my releases in the style of a news story. i find print reporters in particular are pressed for time, so a well written release not only cuts through the fluff and presents your angle in a clear and concise manner, but also gives reporters the option of copying and pasting chunks of your release straight into their story. if journalists have to waste time chopping, changing and rewriting sloppy press releases, they're less likely to cover them. meanwhile, well written intros should be able to be read verbatim for radio and tv. negotiator, treaties and aboriginal government at government of canada thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution i would advise not pitching reporters. pitching a reporter means putting your faith in his/her hands to be able to « sell » your story to the editor. instead…pitch the editor, or the news director. pitch the person who decides on the assignments. no one, but you, can pitch your story with your conviction. that’s a powerful tool that you don’t want to give away! created npr's planet money; business writer for the ny times and the new yorker; author, "the passion economy." thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution as a journalist who received pitches all the time, the best practice is super simple and nobody every does it: actually know something about the journalist you're writing to. reference something they wrote that is similar and explain why you thought they would want to follow up with your pitch. i respond to every personalized pitch. and to zero non personalized pitches. i'd guess personalized pitches are about 0.0001% of the pitches i get. speaker | “a truly special speaking talent” @tedx | senior fellow @lselaw | author “scoops” | netflix “scoop” (aka billie piper) | emmy and bafta nom | speaking: dm pls |📧 fogartyoffice@curtisbrown.co.uk thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution my best advice? never cut and paste, mix fonts, get the wrong outlet name or spell their name incorrectly or it’s likely all over also …. owner at ken anderson & associates thanks for letting us know! you'll no longer see this contribution all media   including radio   are hungry for great visuals. (most radio stations have websites, as do other media.) but, use original photos/video, i.e., stay away from stock images and (horrors!!!) clip art and the boring old grip and grin shots. (oh, and emojis often come across as infantile!) what are some of the tools and resources that you use for media relations research? 33 contributions what are the common media relations mistakes that you should avoid? 95 contributions what are the best times and days to send a pitch to a journalist? 43 contributions how do you maintain trust and credibility with the media and the public after a media relations crisis? 22 contributions how do you leverage social media platforms and tools to enhance your media relations pitching strategy? 20 contributions how do you build and maintain trust and credibility with media contacts? 55 contributions how do you communicate your media relations research findings to your stakeholders? 11 contributions what are some of the best practices for responding to negative media coverage? 18 contributions how do you pitch a story idea to a journalist in a way that builds trust and interest? 32 contributions how do you identify and target the most relevant media outlets for your organization? 18 contributions how do you build and maintain relationships with media professionals after a successful pitch? 17 contributions how do you craft a compelling pitch using media relations tools? 9 contributions what are the key elements of a successful media relations strategy that supports your media pitching efforts? 10 contributions how do you conduct media relations research for a new campaign? 10 contributions how do you manage your own stress and emotions when dealing with a media relations crisis? 16 contributions

our latest report shows a troubling explosion of book bans with the largest numbers of bans in florida and iowa. learn how the creation and display of art is entwined with the u.s.’s most fraught cultural and political debates. the next four years could reshape the united states for decades to come. join us in fighting every day to protect the freedom to write and the freedom to read. join donate now local news is a vital resource, but many people feel that the news doesn’t fully reflect their communities or give sufficient coverage to the issues they care about. moreover, financial pressures have resulted in the shrinking or demise of many news outlets, making it harder to adequately serve communities and leading to gaps in coverage where disinformation can take hold. strengthening relationships between community members and journalists can help the media better serve community needs; yet according to pew research center, 78% of adults have never even spoken to a journalist. to help address this missed opportunity, pen america asked journalists for their suggestions about how community members can reach out to them, request coverage or share feedback, and ultimately build lasting relationships. this guide shares what we learned. in may 2024, pen america shared an informal, qualitative survey with a small number of u.s. journalists about how they prefer to be approached by community members and what, in their experience, makes for a mutually beneficial relationship. ten journalists provided suggestions. of these, eight were local journalists, while two were national. women and people of color represent about half of respondents. the journalists work in four states located in the midwest, the northeast, and the south. to give the journalists freedom to be candid, we’ve preserved their anonymity. when you first reach out to a journalist, you might be pitching a story, inviting a reporter to cover an event, providing a factual correction, or simply asking to have coffee to share information about your work or community. how you approach this initial request will play a big role in achieving your goal   or not. two themes to keep in mind for your first contact with a journalist are relevance and significance. first, find the right person. journalists are deluged with requests for coverage. making an effort to find a journalist relevant to your topic shows consideration and makes it much more likely that you’ll get a response. reviewing a news outlet’s website, look for journalists who have written about your topic or related issues, and email or call them directly. if you have trouble finding a relevant journalist, try asking an editor or news director at the publication to suggest someone. “sometimes i get email pitches that clearly don’t relate to my beat   pitches about fashion, for example   and i just delete those automatically,” noted a democracy reporter in wisconsin. next, be clear about why it matters. explain concretely why the issue or event matters to the community or your goal or mission. try to suggest not just a topic or event but a story, complete with the specific setting, key characters, conflict, and important moments. what’s the actual news or trend at play here? and why do you, personally, care so much? don’t be surprised if you don’t hear back from that initial email or phone call. there was consensus among the surveyed journalists that it’s normal for a first inquiry to be ignored   and that it doesn’t mean the journalist doesn’t care about your issue. “i currently have 1,613 emails in my inbox,” explained the texas based executive director of a news organization. “i miss emails all the time.” most of the journalists suggested that you should feel free to follow up one time   and perhaps try a phone call as opposed to an email   but then, if there’s no result, move on to another journalist at the same publication or a different outlet. in addition to finding the right person, explaining why the issue matters, and following up, there are other things you can do to increase your chances of getting a positive response. in particular, try to anticipate the journalist’s needs, and take steps that could make it easier for them to start working on your story. give plenty of notice. if you’re requesting coverage for a planned event, reaching out well in advance (“ideally two weeks,” suggests a texas editor) will make it more likely that the person can fit you into their calendar. providing lead time is extra important considering you will likely need to reach out more than once or try someone else to break through. share documents, photos, materials. if you have relevant photos, videos, or other documents that illustrate your issue or bring it to life, make sure to share them. they might be a decisive part of the final story, or they might just help the journalist visualize what’s going on and recognize why it matters. line up a few people who will serve as sources. because sources are a key part of any news story, arranging in advance for people to be a source helps lay the foundation for coverage. the gold standard is individuals directly affected by the issue and experts who are willing and available to speak. if possible, explain who the people are, what their connection to the issue is, and when and how they’ll be available. “have at least one or two people who are willing to be interviewed (preferably on the record) lined up,” recommended a pennsylvania based investigative journalist. “this makes a huge difference! it’s much harder to write a story about something that no one wants to talk to us about.” you should be also mindful of common missteps that members of the public can make when approaching journalists. some of these are pet peeves of media professionals, while others are actively counterproductive. avoiding these will make it much more likely that a journalist will choose to engage with you. don’t demand coverage or get angry if your request is declined. you’re probably reaching out to a journalist because you care deeply about something. passion is great, but make sure that you are requesting coverage and not demanding it. similarly, if your request is declined or ignored, avoid responding with anger or a guilt trip. journalists are overburdened and frequently face harassment and criticism, so they’ll appreciate it if you’re reasonable and recognize that they can’t cover every worthwhile topic. don’t send messy or lengthy explanations. be careful of details like the spelling of the journalist’s and publication’s names. be concise with your writing so that someone can quickly understand what you want. make sure your request has a question mark at the end and isn’t one of those “more of a comment” questions. “don’t send something so long that it takes me more than a minute or two to read,” advised the texas news director. don’t try to control the process. journalists are professionals with their own preferences and requirements for working. while it’s okay to ask questions and express concerns, don’t tell the reporter what to write or how to write it. similarly, don’t cc top editors when you reach out, and don’t ask to review the story before it’s published. “suggest a story, but don’t tell the person what to write or how to write it,” said a new york based freelance journalist. “even if you think your [point of view] is the only correct one, the media doesn’t exist to be your pr agency, so don’t be surprised when the final story differs from what you suggested.” as with any profession, the public perception of journalism is different from the experience on the inside. we asked the journalists what they wish the general public better understood about journalists and their work. this is important for developing empathy and cultivating a genuine relationship with a journalist. the general themes are that journalists are doing their best and working against a vast array of limitations   many of which are invisible to the public. journalists can’t do it all. journalists are always juggling story ideas and requests and don’t have the time or resources to cover every story they’d like to tell. when a journalist is unable to cover something, you shouldn’t take it personally or view it as a sign that they don’t care. journalists are human beings, and they’re trying their best. news professionals are spread thin and need to make difficult choices. they appreciate when people respect their decisions and treat them with patience   especially because there’s a lot of behind the scenes news production work that audiences don’t see. “if you do work with a reporter, [remember that] the reporting process can take a while as reporters juggle other news and stories or as they do additional research,” explained a community engagement reporter based in texas. “we want to get things right to accurately tell a story and build trust with our readers.” finally, we asked the journalists to reflect on the community relationships they have enjoyed the most. what did these relationships have in common? what’s the recipe for a good relationship between a community member and a local journalist? here’s what we heard. mutual respect and consideration are key. this means acknowledging professional boundaries, limitations, and requirements, as well as being mindful of simple logistics related to creating news stories. respond to reporters’ emails promptly, be reliable and honest, and be willing to provide information and make introductions. all of these actions create goodwill that journalists will appreciate and return. remember that each party has something to offer the other. in an ideal journalist/community member relationship, according to a pennsylvania based former editor/producer, “we respect each other’s schedules, respond in a timely manner, and we know the value of the relationship. you can help me tell compelling stories, and i can help you share what you are working to do.” the ultimate goal is a genuine, ongoing relationship. even though journalists are busy, respondents broadly agreed that they value an ongoing relationship with community members. in other words, don’t just reach out once because you want something; make a plan to stay in touch and work together over time. “i appreciate when community leaders stay in touch about things they’re finding interesting in the community and tip me off on potential story ideas from time to time,” said the investigative journalist from pennsylvania. “even if we can’t write them all, the information helps inform our overall understanding of the communities we serve.” finally, as a community member coordinating with a journalist, you are likely to encounter power dynamics. having someone else tell your story is sensitive, and it’s common for challenges and disagreements to emerge. in order to do their work, journalists require independence and objectivity, and that means they need to exercise autonomy and control over much of the process. at the same time, however, you can exercise control over all aspects of your own involvement. for example, it’s absolutely appropriate to ask questions, get clarity on the journalist’s viewpoint and goals, raise concerns, and decline requests that you don’t feel good about. plan to share control   and share your feelings. just like in any relationship, you should expect to share and negotiate control so there’s a balance that feels acceptable to both parties, and you may find that periodically checking in with each other can keep things copacetic. try to accommodate as best you can, but verbalize your boundaries, and don’t sacrifice your comfort. and remember: if a journalist makes a mistake or does something that upsets you, don’t give up. instead, respectfully share your feelings and, depending on their reaction, give them another chance. similarly, if you have a negative experience with an individual journalist, don’t lose hope on working with the media. instead, reflect on what you’ve learned and consider working with someone else next time. ultimately, your effort to build and manage relationships with journalists can yield great outcomes for you and your community. with these recommendations and a healthy dose of respect and humility, you can end up with a relationship that’s mutually beneficial and honors what both parties have to offer. help protect the freedom to write, read, and learn by donating to pen america today. copyright © 2025 pen america. all rights reserved | privacy policy

writers talk all the time about writer’s block, but no one really discusses the bigger issue: idea block. after more than a decade of writing for a living, i sometimes feel like i’ve completely run out of ideas. not just story ideas, but all original thoughts. if you cover a beat, you often find yourself in a recurring cycle of news, with the same issues popping up over and over, and it can feel like you’ve already done it all. even freelancers can get bogged down by idea block, because having the opportunity to write about anything and everything means you have to narrow down your ideas. that can be problematic in a 24 hour news cycle when, by the time you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), it feels like every idea has been taken by someone else. there are, however, ways to beat the “i have nothing left to say” blues. be willing to recycle ideas. when i wrote about veterans’ affairs for a popular men’s magazine, we worked with as much as six months of lead time, so every idea i had was covered in another outlet before we had completed a publishing cycle. to work around this problem, i started looking at what was getting my favorite reporters talking. one journalist i loved was katie drummond, and i found an old piece she’d written on military burn pits. her article came out in 2012, and by the time i was writing the issue in 2013, very little had changed   and in this instance, no news was big news. so, i explained the issue to my readers in a way that worked for them. it turned out i was on the right track, too, because a few weeks after my article published, drummond published her own follow up on the burn pits. but drummond’s original story also inspired me to look for other similar issues, and i eventually found a story about navy veterans suffering from problems caused by contaminated water on their ships, as well as a story about post traumatic stress. and those only came about because of drummond’s original idea. look for connections. don’t want to recycle? you can still borrow to get to the story by finding the trends. maybe you’re seeing a lot of stories in the national news about the run up to the olympics. maybe equipment used by the athletes is made in your city, or perhaps you have former olympic hopefuls living in the area. you can even cover stories that don’t necessarily have a local angle off the bat. with california legalizing recreational marijuana, you can write about what that means for your region’s legalization efforts, or you can dig into non thc cannabis products, like the newly popular cbd infused health and beauty products, which are legal in all 50 states. there’s always a way to connect a story to your audience if you dig deep enough. know your audience. reporters can feel like something is old news even if the rest of the world thinks it’s breaking news, so it’s crucial to think about who you’re writing for. “i approach writing the way i approach planning a party,” olivier knox told me last year. “i know what kind of food i want to eat, what i want to drink, what kind of music [i want to hear]. i know i need a sign that says where the bathroom is. so while some stories [are driven by] my curiosity, i also try to think of what the reader would want to know.” you may know everything you’d want to know about a particular topic, especially as a beat writer, but you’re not writing for yourself. know your purpose. “a story will either get a reader or keep a reader,” says joanne cleaver, a freelance business and personal finance writer. in her beat, that means that a story on buying your first home, while it’s not new, will be new to a segment of the population, and could attract new readers to your outlet. such a story also has the potential to keep an older, more engaged reader active, because they may want to pass that story along to someone else, or use the information you’ve provided them to advise a younger family member or colleague for whom that information is new. be curious. knox, yahoo’s chief washington correspondent, told me that curiosity is a big part of what drives his feature storytelling. that should be a driver for every reporter. chances are, of course, that after a while you’re no longer curious about your beat   especially if you’ve been on the same one for years   but you’re definitely curious about something. so, figure out what that is and find a way to apply it to your newswriting. when i started working on defense stories for vice news, i brought some of my curiosity about my previous profession writing for men’s magazines with me. when i was tasked with writing about the advancements of the intelligence community, instead of writing straight news, i compared the agencies to old school men’s pin up magazines, how that industry evolved and how the internet changed that field completely. it turned out there were surprising similarities between the two industries’ growth, and my approach made the story easy to understand and accessible to readers who might not be familiar with the inner workings of the intelligence community. (and that article has since been used as a teaching resource in at least one college class and one military training class.) ask stupid questions. every journalist does their research before starting a story, so by the time you’re interviewing a source, you know as much about the topic as possible. but that means you probably aren’t asking the super simple, very basic questions. “don’t be afraid to ask dumb questions,” said sarah gray miller, editor in chief for modern farmer, when i spoke to her in november. often, she says, you’ll get a new angle for your story from asking something as simple as “what does this mean?” or “why does this matter?” this is especially important for reporters who are covering a niche topic for a general audience. “some of our stories come from just asking the really obvious question and then doing a deep dive into it,” miller explains. find what isn’t news. this may sound counterintuitive, but things that aren’t news can be news, if you try. cleaver, who often covers personal finance matters, says 401ks are never big news, but there are plenty of stories you can tell about them. off the top of her head, she rattled off more than a half dozen ideas that journalists could cover in january as people are thinking about their contributions to their plans. “there are a lot of angles [to every story],” cleaver says. the important thing to remember is not to get so bogged down by the news   or lack of news   that you lose sight of the story ideas that are all around you. if you have tricks for beating the block, or if there are other topics you’d like to see covered in the new alliance how to series, please reach out. you can email me at jennifer@newsmediaalliance.org or tweet me at @editrixjen. jennifer peters is former content manager of the news media alliance. stay in the know: sign up below and we’ll email you when we publish new content! select one or more topics. δdocument.getelementbyid( "ak_js_2" ).setattribute( "value", ( new date() ).gettime() ); we are the leading voice for the news and magazine media industries. our advocacy, research and events bring together today’s brightest minds to create the strategies and business models to help quality journalism thrive. formerly the newspaper association of america. click here to contact us via email. 4401 n. fairfax dr. suite 300 arlington, va 22203 571.366.1000 info@newsmediaalliance.org to learn more about news/media alliance membership services, for media requests, to receive our latest research reports or for other general inquiries, get in touch with us. get our regular email updates! stay in the know: sign up below and we’ll email you when we publish new content! select one or more topics. δdocument.getelementbyid( "ak_js_1" ).setattribute( "value", ( new date() ).gettime() ); advertisers privacy policy terms & conditions

if you want to listen to the audio version of the guide on how to pitch to journalists, press play here. if you want to win press coverage then you need to master two things: how to write an effective pitch and how to contact the media about a story in the correct way. that’s why we’ve put together this how to pitch to journalists guide, to walk you through the following: and in addition to this guide, you can also download our pitching to journalists toolkit, which contains 6 pitch email examples to journalists, as well as a sample media pitch email template. 6 real world journalist email pitch examples editable journalist email pitch template media wins metrics tracker okay, i’m starting with the basics here! but it’s important for context. pr remains a bit of a mystery to many people and the question of how to get press coverage can be downright bewildering. so here’s our media pitch definition: a pitch is a speculative approach to a journalist, where you offer something of value, with the intention of it winning press coverage for you or your company. what you offer to a journalist will determine the type of media pitch you send. i’ll walk you through this below. one of the questions we get asked the most is how to get an article written about your company by a journalist. it’s no use simply pitching any old thing to journalists. if a pitch offers no value, it’ll just end up in the trash folder. so how can you prevent this fate from befalling your media pitches? to get press coverage, also known as earned media, you need clearly defined business goals, a well crafted narrative, and expert knowledge of your industry and current trends, as the below graphic demonstrates. ultimately   you need to give more than you take. what we mean by this is if you just pitch blatantly promotional stuff, such as why your startup is going to disrupt your industry, you’re not going to win press coverage. always bear in mind: it’s a journalist’s job to write stories, not promote products. so with this being the case, you need to offer journalists news, stories or ideas that are unique and present real value to their readers. every pitch needs a hook. this is the way you present your news, story or idea so that it stimulates interest and demonstrates its newsworthiness. the hook you develop will depend on what it is you’re pitching and the industry you’re in. here are some common examples to help you develop yours: the following section helps to place all of the above into context, by providing media pitch examples we send to journalists. we categorize our journalists’ pitches based on the type of story, news or insight they’re offering. here’s the list of our most common press pitch types. used when pitching for a guest post spot in a publication, which is talking about a general topic relevant to your industry. used when pitching actionable and practical insights which are based on your own experience and expertise. used to jump on a breaking news story that’s relevant to you or your business by pitching to offer expert opinion and insight. used when pitching to provide an overview or analysis of something that’s happening at a high level in your industry. used when pitching a story, advice or insight that provides a solution to a known problem. this one’s nice and simple. it’s used when you’re pitching your product to professional reviewers. *when pitching for a guest article (otherwise known as a guest post), make sure you only pitch to outlets that accept guest article submissions and that you pitch to an editor, rather than a journalist. pitching these to outlets that don’t accept them is a sure way to ruffle feathers. write the perfect pitch in minutes using the free template in our pitching to journalists toolkit allow me to get technical for a moment. a press release is a medium for writing and transmitting information about a company announcement. but what does this actually mean? well   if you have something to announce (for example, securing funding or signing a new partnership), then you can write and email a press release to journalists requesting media coverage. they can then publish the press release in its entirety or write it up into an article. but, as you’ve no doubt already figured out, this is only useful on those occasions that you have something newsworthy to announce. and if you’re a startup, this may only be a handful of times a year. that’s why you need to use the above types of pitches to win press coverage when you have no company announcements to make. read our best tips on how to write a press release in our comprehensive startup press release toolkit. there’s no one type of press coverage that pr can get you. here are the main types of coverage that a successful media pitch can generate: when you write an article that’s published by a publication under your name. when you provide a comment for a story that’s attributed to you. when you appear as a guest, such as on a podcast when a journalist writes a profile about you. when you get a feature interview in a publication, such as a trade journal. when your product is professionally reviewed by a publication. being aware of these different types of press coverage will help you define your objectives and better articulate the offer you’re making in your pitch. once you’ve come up with a killer idea for a pitch, the next step is to identify the most relevant journalists and find their contact details. there are three important things to bear in mind here: this can sound time consuming, but it needn’t be when you apply the correct process and the right tools. our guides on how to find journalists’ contact details and how to build relationships with journalists provide step by step instructions on how to do this effectively. free resource download   pitching to journalists toolkit want to learn the secret sauce for securing media coverage? our pitching to journalists toolkit gives templates and real world examples to pitch to journalists the correct way. now comes the actual outreach. this is where you need to condense your great idea into a short and concise pitch email, that will grab the attention of reporters and demonstrate its value to them. so, how to contact the press and write an effective pitch? these are the steps that you need to keep in mind: before you type the first word, be sure of what it is you’re offering to a journalist and the type of press coverage you’re trying to win. your pitch needs to clearly explain what you’re offering, why this is of value to the journalist and the type of media coverage you’re seeking. if you’re not certain on this, your email pitch is going to lack coherence and purpose. when asking yourself how to contact journalists, remember   it’s their job to tell stories   not promote products. i hate to say this, but most journalists don’t really care about your product, and this is why you need to be far more creative when trying to win earned media. pitches to journalists are often based on a template (hey, we’re even giving some away with this guide!). but make the effort to personalize each one you send out. use the journalist’s name in the subject line and your opener. and if you can, include references to any previous related articles the journalist has written, linking these to your pitch. make sure every sentence serves a purpose and that the outreach email to the journalist is free of waffle. break up any large paragraphs with bullet points, to call out the key points of your offer. your social proof is the evidence of your credibility. it’s no use just saying in a pitch that you’re an expert on the subject, you have to provide evidence of this. this can be via a brief summary of your resume or links to other press coverage that you’ve won. the purpose of a media kit   a high level overview of your company   is to make it easier for journalists to find relevant information about your business. including a media kit or a link to it in your pitch will save the valuable time of busy journalists and increase your chances of getting your pitch picked up. make sure you build upon your hook throughout your pitch. the introduction, context, social proof and the offer all need to support the overall hook of your pitch. our journalist pitch email example in the following section illustrates how to do this. below is a pitch email example to a journalist. this is a breaking news hook email pitch that’s jumping on a partnership announcement made by affirm and walmart. it’s offering a perspective on how fintech startups are impacting traditional banks, and what they can do to fight back. use the subject line to grab the journalist’s attention. call them out by name, then explain the subject crux of your pitch. in this pr pitch example, we lead with the journalist’s name, then explain what the subject of the pitch is about   which in this case is a breaking news hook pitch. use the first paragraph to provide the context of what it is you’re pitching and to personalize the pitch by relating it to something the journalist has recently written about. it’s important that you know how to begin the pitch effectively and demonstrate that you are familiar with their work instead of being generic. in this example, we start the pitch by referencing a recent article that the journalist wrote, which is on the topic of this breaking news hook pitch. use the next paragraph to start building your hook. always support this with data points and links to other articles or research that supports your angle. in this example, our angle is built around how traditional banks are feeling the pressure of fintechs and how this is eroding their market share. we also support this with a relevant data point. use the following paragraph to fully flesh out your angle, if required. in this example, the previous paragraph posed a problem, while this paragraph suggests a partial solution. this partial solution is then related to the “offer” at the end of the pitch. now comes the introduction of the person offering the story and their company. use this as your social proof, to explain why you’re qualified to talk about the subject you’re pitching. in this example, as the offer is on behalf of a ceo at a fintech company, we’ve provided an explanation of what the company does, to demonstrate why the ceo is qualified to talk about this topic. and here is the actual offer to the journalist. you need to explain exactly what it is you’re offering, which you can do here. in this press pitch example, we’re offering a commentary, a bylined article (which is another term for a guest article) or an interview. we then provide details of the topics that this person can provide input on. get 6 real world email pitch examples in our pitching to journalists toolkit based on our own research, we find that the best time to contact a journalist is either tuesday or wednesday, between 8am and 9am. when pitching to journalists, make sure you stay on their right side by following some basic etiquette. now that you’ve read our guide on how to pitch to journalists, you know how to come up with pitch ideas, how to get press coverage, and how to contact the press the right way. and we’ve made doing this even easier with our free pitching to journalists toolkit. the toolkit provides everything you need to know on how to write a pitch and how to contact the press. it includes the best pitching tips and carefully selected email examples and tools such as: with these pitching tips and pr tools, you will be able to get an article written about your company and get your name across prominent media outlets to boost your company’s growth. where to go next? take our pr preparedness quiz and find the resources suited to your current pr needs.

most journalists, at one time or another, have run into the problem of having a source who wants to read your story before publication. sometimes it’s hard to know how to respond, how much to disclose and how to treat your source respectfully without violating journalistic ethics. we talked to pulitzer prize winning former investigative journalist stephen berry, author of “watchdog journalism: the art of investigative reporting,” about how to handle this situation. jd: when you’re in the process of interviewing, how much do you disclose about your story to your sources? sb: i usually prepare what i call a storyline, which is a two to three sentence summary. so when i call a source or approach a source i give a two to three line summary of what i wanted to talk about. and that’s about all i tell them. there are some good reasons for that. you don’t want to, in any way, influence [your source’s] quote. you don’t want them to get any idea that you are looking for a particular slant or angle or answer. so the less information you can give, the more independent and unbiased quote you will get from them. jd: what do you do if you have sources that push you to get more information about your story? sb: i usually pushed those kind of questions away by saying something to the effect of, “well, we’re still looking into it. we don’t really know what the answer to that is, and we don’t know where our story is going at this point. we’re just trying to gather all the facts and information that we can.” jd: once a story is done, how do you handle a source that wants to see the whole story? sb: in short, the answer is just, “no, we don’t do that.” and here’s why. that particular request involves a fundamental question in journalistic ethics. one is that [the source] is asking for prior review. to grant that would be a violation of a very fundamental ethical demand that journalists and news organizations always have to protect their freedom and independence in gathering, writing and editing stories. we have to always be independent. jd: is it okay to share a version of your story with a source if worried about the accuracy of your story? sb: it is a fundamental requirement that reporters seek the truth and report it. so in a way, prepublication review can help make sure that you are being totally accurate. if you let your source read your story, that would be one way of ensuring accuracy. however, the notion that you have to maintain your independence trumps that. there are many other ways you can ensure accuracy. if you have portions of the story that are highly technical or complex, you can read that portion of the story to the source and say, “is this accurate?” but you cannot tell that source what the entire gist of the story is, or what the gist of your findings is. you only give them the portion of the story that you yourself are uncertain about. i wouldn’t let them physically see it, my preference is to always maintain control, and i would rather just read it to them, either over the telephone or in person, and to make sure that that particular paragraph is technically accurate. if we’re talking about an individual quote, i’m very diligent during the course of the interview to read quotes back to people to make sure that i have understood them correctly. i also try to record every interview i have, so there is no question about misquoting people. but if there is any doubt about whether or not you quoted somebody accurately, you are ethically obligated to go back to that source and to check that quote with that person. a standard guideline is check it out or leave it out. jd: do you treat that situation differently depending on the topic of the story? sb: no, because no matter what topic you have, you’re going to have questions and uncertainties about segments of the story. if you’re writing the story, the writing process is part of your own analytical process, so as you’re writing the story, you’ll be forced to analyze your information. and with that, questions naturally come up. doubts might even come up, and that can happen whether it’s a legal story, whether it’s a technical story, or whether it’s a routine city council meeting. you have to be prepared to go back to the source and to clarify your questions in whatever way you can, but i cannot think of any reason where i would ever allow a source to take control of an entire story and to read it, and to edit it, and to pass on it. that’s getting them in the editing process, and that is a breach of ethics. jd: how do you handle a source that insists on reading a story before publication? sb: a source doesn’t have control over letting you publish. the story is yours and your news organization’s. the only thing [the source] has control over is whether they will talk to you or whether they will answer your questions. so if they say, “i will not talk to you unless you let me read the story,” or “i will not answer that question unless you let me preview or pass on how you actually use my quote in the story,” i try not to be confrontational. i generally say: “i understand that you have some problems, but i need to tell you up front that for me to do that would be a serious violation of journalistic ethics. so why don’t we do this? tell me what it is you’re concerned about, and let’s deal with specifics rather than something general. is there a piece of information that you’re uncertain about or is there something that you’re worried about, that you think i don’t understand? maybe we can talk about that and we can clear that up for you and make sure that i have understood you accurately or that i have understood the information that you have provided me accurately.” jd: is it okay talking to a source about the specific quotes of theirs that you’re using in a story? sb: yeah, under most circumstances. you have to realize, when somebody calls you up and they want to know how you are going to use their quote, i would steer away from saying how i’m going to use the quote, but i wouldn’t have any problems with reciting the quotation that i have, and they have to understand that you maintain control of that quote. you are not going to permit them to change that quote unless you also advise your readers that this person, post interview, sought to change the quote. you have to be transparent. jd: what if a source takes issue with the quote being used? sb: if it gets to the point where a source actually wants to see how i’m going to put their quote in a story, then i would have to say, “listen, here is what you said to me. and i know this because it is on a recording, or i know this because i double checked it with you over the course of the interview. and i will read this back to you, but i am not going to change it if i think you’re trying to take back your quote.” and then if they say, “i didn’t say that,” here’s where i tell them what i’ll do. i say, “okay, if you want to do that here’s what i’m going to do. i’m going to quote you as i originally understood you, and then i’m going to add another line. and in the second line i will say, ‘the source called back later and sought to clarify their quote in this way.'” that’s how i would handle that. and they could either agree with it or disagree with it. at that point, i tell them, “well you need to take it up with my editor.” jd: are there any other reasons why prepublication review is not allowed in journalism? sb: yes, there are a lot of practical reasons as well. it’s a form of news management, primarily at the end of the news process, so if you give one source a prepublication review, it may not be any problem for that one particular story, but then word gets out, and the next thing you know you’re going to have another source come up to you and demand prepublication review, and you will say, “no, i can’t do that.” and they will say, “well, i know you let so and so do that.” so you need to guard against that, particularly if you work in a small town where things like this get spread about. second of all, sometimes there’s simply not time for it. you’re frequently working on a deadline, and you simply do not have the time to go let a source read the story in advance. a third thing is that sometimes it’s hard to even know what the word prepublication means. in the editing process, changes to the story, and sometimes significant changes to the story, can happen just before the story goes to press, or just before your editor pushes the publish button. so sometimes you’re reporting up until the very last minute, and when you report and you get new information, that changes things, and you may delete their quote. so it may be that the story that actually gets published is quite a bit different from the story that your source had reviewed prior to publication. that leaves you open to the source coming to you later, particularly if it’s a controversial story, and your source can come out publicly and say, “look this story is just dramatically different from the story i read before they published. it’s inaccurate.” and they can use that as leverage to try to damage the credibility of your story. your email address will not be published. required fields are marked * support our work from girls’ education in afghanistan to broken water systems in appalachia, your support makes possible stories that might otherwise go untold. getting to the truth matters now more than ever. will you give today? make a donation report for america has created more than 600 local reporting positions with more than 300 news organizations across all 50 states, puerto rico, guam and washington, d.c. since 2017. each is focused on a critical coverage gap within their local community, with an emphasis on impact and sustainability. learn more report for the world, launched in 2021, now partners with more than 30 independent news organizations supporting 45 reporting positions in 20 countries   these reporters cover critical public interest beats like climate, education, health, gender and criminal justice. learn more © 2025 the groundtruth project website by web publisher pro

sign up sign in sign up sign in blažej kupec follow    5 listen share i still remember my first day in the newsroom. it was a fairly large office with 25 journalists with lots of opinions and very little self restraint. the place was noisy, chaotic, and intimidating. i’ve got the job in an audition without any prior formal education in journalism. they thought i was a good fit, but i struggled at first. the outlet (as most others) didn’t have any space where the newcomers would learn the practicalities of the media business. this is especially discouraging for young people who are not necessarily journalism graduates but are still interested in working in the media   just as i have been. the following guide might help cross that knowledge gap. it includes: although the guide contains some journalistic jargon, it might prove useful to anybody that writes for a living   or fun. this includes profiles, such as: journalists operate with an arsenal of distinct sources that help them harvest stories and news items. in some cases, the ideas come from personal contacts, but mostly they hail from public sources, accessible to anyone. good journalists, however, will look for small details and create novel angles that will give their work added value (exclusivity, usefulness, …). below are sources journalists often use to dig out stories. i can, however, easily imagine marketing or pr manager perusing the same material, looking for ideas for the next company exposure. a news agency is an organization (either public or private) that gathers, writes and distributes news from around the country and the world. the three most prolific are reuters news, associated press (ap) and agence france presse (afp) which employ more than eight thousand people and have made a combined 1.3 billion dollars of revenue in 2018. see this wikipedia article for an (almost) exhaustive list of news agencies around the world. most of them have english websites that provide an incredible source of localized information. often, access to some articles is free of charge. the articles, that the agencies prepare, are distributed to the subscribing media outlets. some of them simply re publish the news, others might adept headlines and leads to their format and third will take only the news itself and construct an article around it. agency news is a great source of possible ideas. you should peruse them carefully since they often contain pieces of information that are hardly noticeable but have all the potential to evolve into great stories. here is a real life example: a news agency has published an article that summarized an annual gathering of stockholders of a larger manufacturing company. the agency’s article drew an average amount of attention, but it contained a less exposed golden nugget of an “explosive” nature. it read that the company, highly publicized as one of the most successful in the region with a media darling ceo, has been planning to stop certain investments because of “high taxes and uncertain business environment”. this piece of news   once discovered   has made headlines all over the media, generating thousands of comments and opinions. your job as a perceptive journalist is to notice these overlooked, but valuable bits and find out where the rabbit hole will eventually take you. it is essential to understand how the news cycle works. this might be overwhelming at first, but once you’ll narrow down your professional interests (find your specialization or a “beat”), you’ll discover a rewarding feeling that comes with mastering the information stream. one powerful way to organize articles and customize preferences are the so called news aggregators. among the most popular apps and websites are: a bonus tip: don’t ignore local media (in case you don’t work in one already) which has been   until recently   the single most common source of news in the u.s. think how you can expand on local stories by giving them a national or global dimension. pr industry proclaims their death every second year, but press releases are still relevant in the media world. true, their existence is partly depended on public companies that still use press releases to disclose information to the general public. regardless of press releases’ reputation as boring and useless don’t ignore them. the company might want to sell you a new product or a hire that nobody outside the company cares about, but you can still find a different angle to expand on. try to look beyond the promotional clutter and instead give the message your own voice. for example, a press release from etoro, a trading platform that acquired a crypto wallet provider, is a typical promotional material. under closer inspection, it still contains several interesting cues. before you continue reading, try to think of some. here are some possible ideas framed as questions: 1. what are the most profitable fintechs in our country and globally? 2. are cryptocurrencies still popular? 3. how to set up a crypto wallet and what are the best options on the market? 4. what is the story of etoro founders? 5. how to move your company to cyprus? conferences, festivals, meetups, and lectures are another way to get relevant material and contacts. many tech and start up journalists, for instance, attend ces or web summit, health journalists don’t want to miss medica trade fair while members of auto media fly in droves to frankfurt, geneva, and shanghai car shows. although mass events attract big names, smaller gatherings are just as useful. attend a local hackathon to capture the spirit of entrepreneurship in the city or visit a book presentation of a reputable climate scientist which could make for an interesting interview. in any case, make sure to do your homework in advance: journalists often use research and rankings to either back assertions, fact check quotes or create news out of interesting findings and lists themselves. business insider is a great example: they pick up almost any research and deliver it in a “top n list” form. just take a look at 20 of the best us neighborhoods for trick or treating this halloween or top 10 brands in the world. there is a wealth of sources a journalist can tap into. for instance: approach the sources critically though. public agencies might have their agenda while companies know that data is valuable leverage in pursuing pr exposure; reports and rankings with dubious methodology are therefore not uncommon. your job is to question the results and ask for clarification. below, i’ve listed some oft cited sources: a vast majority (73 percent) of the journalists say they use social media at their work, according to the research from lars willnat at syracuse university and david weaver at indiana university. twitter, especially, is a powerful weapon in the journalist’s arsenal. if used wisely it can broaden the pool of sources beyond traditional gatekeepers of information. (the feed, however, might appear chaotic at times. one useful tool for giving twitter more clarity is tweetdeck application. journalists often use it to sort people and media they follow.) other social media platforms are potentially useful as well. one can find contacts and experts in niche facebook groups, insights on quora (very useful for interview preparation), or the latest public announcements of celebrities on instagram. social media, especially twitter, should still be used with a grain of salt. otherwise, it can distort the way the story is reported, affect news judgment, and even lead to “pack mentality in which a story is seen as important because other journalists on twitter are talking about it, rather than because it is newsworthy”, as some researchers suggest. journalists are expected to develop and cultivate a network of people they can tap into when needed. a source might provide information ahead of public announcements, an insider tip or a useful suggestion for a story that is worth exploring further. many news companies also maintain a network of “stingers”   freelance journalists or well informed citizens who provide information from smaller towns, third countries or war zones. sources are in a vast majority of cases cited with full names and relevant descriptions. sometimes, however, their identity is not revealed because otherwise they might get fired, harassed or threatened. anonymous sources make reporting less credible, and many news organizations have strict rules on when and how to use them. the same applies to other forms of reporting that do not reveal the full identity of the source, such as off the record citing (nothing can be used for publication) or reporting on the background (parties agree in advance what can be published). the new york times has an article that explains the terminology more in detail. potential news can come from everywhere. consider a real example of a promotional catalogue of a supermarket chain featuring a sale on grave candles with a clumsy copy “only for retired people”. clearly not a content for “serious” newspapers, but it just might make an impression on a tabloid editor. ebay, craigslist and online forums also provide ideas, interesting contacts or content. gizmodo, for instance, picked up this “story” of a fake craigslist ad. corporate reports are a potential gold mine for business journalists. i personally find the ceo’s letter especially useful as they often talk about industry trends not necessarily publicized yet. in some countries, private companies have to disclose their financials as well. another great resource for journalists to write about businesses that the public is interested in. in most cases, novice journalists are told what to do. this way the editors test their understanding of what is newsworthy and assess their writing skills. of course, all journalists in the newsroom are expected to collaborate and exchange ideas, expertise, and contacts. very often, a journalist receives a great recommendation for an article from a fellow colleague or is assigned a project on daily/weekly meetings. not all articles in the media look and “feel” the same. the format depends on the medium (daily newspaper, weekly magazine, supplements, online or offline), readership, and content. most frequently journalists use the following three formats (or their variations) to convey messages: the best way to assess newsworthiness (what is interesting enough to publish) is to ask yourself some pointed questions. they are pretty standard as you will find similar advice in most textbooks on journalism. typical “hard” news is supposed to be delivered as fast as possible. events that happened more than 24 hours ago (not a set in stone time frame) are usually already deemed as old news. feature stories usually allow for more time, but they should still consider if they are relevant at a particular point. for example, see economist’s analysis of the elections in german states brandenburg and saxony. although the article has been published six days after the elections, it is still relevant, because the format (an international weekly magazine) allows for a longer time frame   its readers care more for an added value they receive and are less time sensitive. the same article, on the other hand, would probably not pass after a month from the event. questions: localization or proximity is defined by both geographical and emotional closeness to a particular event. a natural disaster, political turmoil or a sporting success will obviously resonate more with people that are affected by them. a good journalist will also look for local elements in seemingly unrelated stories. for instance, an italian journalist might expand his article on student debt defaults in the u.s. with similar data on italian students. questions: impact looks at the consequences of a certain event has on people. a worker’s strike of a local company is less important for the general public in the country as a nation wide power outage, but it might be more important to people living in the community affected by the strike. questions: conflict is another element of assessing newsworthiness. readers are drawn to disagreements, fights and arguments since they make stories more compelling and exciting. one way to convey conflict is by sensationalistic elements (strong words, typeface, exclamation marks) mostly used in tabloids. this kind of media, however, often uses sensationalism to create or enhance drama where there objectively isn’t any. if you work in “serious” media, rather think of conflict as a way to engage readers. questions: prominence is also a useful guiding principle. it identifies people who are in the public interest and, therefore, newsworthy. politicians and other people who hold public offices are especially scrutinized. consider a car crash of an austrian politician jörg heider   his death made international headlines due to his prominence as controversial leader of a far right party. questions: most journalists (not all though) write beautifully articulated and pointed articles not by chance, but rather by design. they have a system in place that provides guidance, a source inspiration and it simply allows them to get things done faster. there is no universally effective technique. rather, journalists come up with their own preparation process by testing what works. i’ve still tried to distill some of the more fundamental methods that most journalists (and other writers) use to some degree. let’s look at the possible techniques with the below exercise: the european environment agency just published its annual report on the cleanliness of natural swimming spots in the eu. since the summer season is about to start your job is to combine the report with some additional sources for people who are planning trips to the rivers and lakes and are concerned about the water quality. it is important to first… (a) clarify intent: think who you are writing for and what are you trying to achieve. in our case, you might think of people who are making holiday plans and want to have all the details under control. your intention is to provide them with information on water quality so they can make better decisions. (b) brainstorm: try to think of questions that reflect your intention. you might come up with something similar as: (c) research: the most common sources are already written articles on the topic (local and international), researches, statistics, and interviews with experts. observe the angles and questions other journalists have used in their work. if relevant to you article, use them! in our case, you’ll find a plethora of resources. here are just some of them: don’t forget forums, quora and facebook groups for contacts, anecdotes, and insights. also, visit the local bathing spots yourself and look for signs that indicate the quality of water. talk with the visitors and ask them if they have any reservations swimming in the lakes and rivers. write down facts, stats, and quotes of everything relevant to the intention of the article. (d) group ideas: think again of the intention you have set at the beginning. it will guide you in grouping facts, numbers, and quotes that you’ve come across while researching the topic from different sources. in our case, we want to give advice to people that are planning local holiday trips to the rivers, lakes and sea beaches. therefore, it makes sense to first give some general information on the water quality followed by advice on how the readers can find specific information by themselves. water quality in the country water quality sources below is an example of how the article might end up by putting the pieces together. of course, you could expand the article further, answering other questions that we have come up while brainstorming: in this section, i will dive deeper into the mechanics of article writing. this is a very well explored topic already. my ambition is to, therefore, give some clear and concise guidance without going into too much detail. if you want to give your writing extra nuance, i’ve listed additional material that you can use as further reading. the best advice for good and fast writing is to let go of the need for perfection. writers often find themselves correcting and polishing words and sentences as they write, losing focus and flow in the meantime. i speak from experience. i’ve been obsessed with nailing the perfect version the first time and lost hours arguing with the panel of internal critics. since i let myself to embrace that monstrous first draft, i sleep much better at night. polishing articles and giving flair to your writings is an essential part of a (self)editing process. some even suggest that you should dedicate half of your time just revising and improving the article. professional writers agree: “kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” stephen king “i’ve found the best way to revise your own work is to pretend that somebody else wrote it and then to rip the living shit out of it.” don roff “when i’m writing, i make words my b*tch. but when i’m editing, the words make me their b*tch. it all equals out in the end.” richard b. knight i’ve divided this chapter into four parts, each containing practical tips on how to write better headlines, leads, paragraphs, and sentences & words. i don’t believe template headlines (such as the one used for this blog post) work all the time (i hope it does in my case though). writers should rather think of how to best articulate the value their piece brings to the readers   not how to mathematically design the “perfect” headline. however, certain rough guidelines do exist and they are worth mentioning as good headlines are usually: lead or lede is the opening paragraph of the story. it is also the second and last opportunity to capture the reader’s attention. make it fast paced, specific, and concise. it has to be an easy buy in. don’t use it for background information or old news, deliver what is new, relevant and interesting. your lead will set the tone for the rest of the article. the opening of the article does not have to be necessarily short, but it rather depends on the type of the article. you might want to build the attention with a surprising fact, quote or a humorous anecdote. many feature stories start with a rich and immersive description of the scene that often evolves into an introduction of the story’s characters. there is no hard rule on how long the first paragraph should be. however, shorter first paragraphs (3 5 sentences) are usually the norm. here are some examples of great headlines and opening paragraphs: there is no set in stone rule on how long the paragraphs should be. the best advice is to use as many sentences as you need to develop and bring home an idea or a thought. this might require only one sentence or ten. still, aim for a shorter version which usually makes the text more appealing and easier to read. paragraphs are also a great opportunity to set the rhythm for the readers. think of them as points in the text where you would like the readers to catch a breath for a split second before moving to another section. see how the author has broken down her article on wild turkeys “terrorizing a town in new jersey”. she uses paragraphs to split the story into well rounded sections: in writing (especially online) short sentences are preferred but there is no absolute rule on the optimal length. some say that 25 words is a good reference point and that longer sentences hinder readability and clarity. here are some tips on how to shorten sentences: 1.1. break them down into individual thoughts or ideas try it on the following sentence: survey results showed 71% of global respondents said trying to complete everything on their to do lists actually distracts them from focusing on what is really important, suggesting to do lists might be holding travelers back instead of propelling them towards success which is especially true amongst us respondents, with 77% agreeing with this statement. one possible way how to break it down into several thoughts that can stand by themselves: survey results showed 71% of global respondents said trying to complete everything on their to do lists actually distracts them from focusing on what is really important. they suggest to do lists might be holding travelers back instead of propelling them towards success. this is especially true amongst us respondents, with 77% agreeing with this statement. 1.2. eliminate redundant words replace: 1.3. avoid wordy phrases instead of: 1.4. recognize and avoid words that imply something that is obvious or has already been explained consider this example: “the worlds’ top skiers have competed in flachau, austria. marcel hirscher, skiing on his home slope, won the race. this is the fourth podium for the austrian in the season.” you can shorten the last sentence to “it is his fourth podium in the season” since “home slope” already implies hirscher is austrian. a small change but that can add up if the rule is applied everywhere in the text. 1.5. avoid unnecessary introductions common examples are: they are a powerful tool in setting a slower pace   as long as they are thoughtfully crafted and considerate of the context. think of them as a boat cruise on a river that meanders through the city centre. people expect a slower ride to enjoy the sights; an experience that one wants to avoid on a daily commute. there are numerous examples of beautifully crafted long sentences in literature, but they can fit well in (online) articles or blogs too. how would you, for instance, improve the following sentence: “polyphenols, including large amounts of a catechin called egcg, can be found in green tea”. it assumes that the reader knows what polyphenols and catechin are. it sounds unwelcoming and confusing. instead, start with what is already common knowledge and reformulate the sentence into something more inviting: “green tea contains polyphenols, including large amounts of a catechin called egcg”. write sentences that include a subject (actor or doer). they give your writing more clarity and flow. passive voice sentences, on the other hand, almost always add words and are generally harder to understand. one “trick” to convert passive sentences into active ones is to find the “buried” subject that follows the word “by”: passive: the war in the middle east has been waged by the red and blue armies. active: the red and blue armies have waged war in the middle east. in case the “doer” is not explicitly written down, it is most probably implied, as in the following case: passive: the tomb of ramses has been thoroughly examined. active: archaeologists have thoroughly examined the tomb of ramses. strong and precise verbs make writing assertive and colourful. these verbs are powerful enough to stand on their own without any extra nouns and adjectives. compare the examples below: a. the home team has been completely surprised by the resistance they’ve received. b. the home team has been shocked by the resistance they’ve received. a. the old man walked aimlessly in the forest. b. the old man wandered the forest. a. her dog has hungrily eaten the leftovers from the last night’s dinner. b. her dog has devoured the leftovers from the last night’s dinner. a. this company has made promises to deliver changes in the logistics sector. b. this company has promised to change the logistics sector. a. he has been hired to facilitate the growth of the business in foreign markets. b. he has been hired to grow the business in foreign markets. here is an example of an ambiguous sentence: “visiting relatives can be exhaustive”. it is not completely clear what is “exhaustive”: when relatives visit you or when you visit relatives. be careful of these kinds of ambiguities and try to avoid them. common examples are “innovative”, “substantial”, “state of the art”, “holistic approach”, “bespoke”, “paradigm” or “disruptive”. instead, give more specific information and examples that prove your point without meaningless jargon. for instance, replace “substantial growth” with a more concrete “78 percent annual growth” or change “innovative” to “their enterprise application will save ten percent of the manufacturing costs”. in most cases (but not always) it is not the most vital information you need to communicate. use it appropriately in the sentence or paragraph and try to use whole words instead of numbers, such as useful tools for writing sources & further reading       5 content strategist and journalist based in berlin help status about careers press blog privacy terms text to speech teams

pitching isn’t easy, is it? it can be hard to know which journalists to target. and it can be even trickier to grab their attention. the good news is journalists want to receive pitches. according to muck rack’s state of journalism 2023 study, 55 per cent of journalists say that a quarter of their stories come from pitches. so, a good pitch has plenty of coverage potential. but how do you create a story pitch journalists want to read and cover rather than one they quickly spike? this was the topic of our latest media team academy masterclass. victoria smith, one of our expert media training tutors, was joined by experienced journalist brendan mcgowan, who has more than 20 years of experience at the likes of itv london and itn. and they steered comms professionals through everything they need to know about pitching. here’s a recap of the discussion. size matters, so let’s start with the question of length. if you are emailing a pitch   and most journalists say this is how they want to receive them   how long should it be? well, brevity is crucial. “keep it brief,” brendan said. “planners   the people who look at what future stories we will cover   are looking at hundreds of emails every day, as well as other sources. “you have to be able to catch their eye quickly. keep it to one page with a decent headline. “that headline doesn’t need to be fancy. it just needs to say, ‘this is what the story is, and this is why we think it is important to you’. “if you can, include a picture. give us an idea of what we will see if we come and film at your organisation.” brendan used the tottenham court road interactive screen to highlight how a simple pitch caught his attention. he said: “we were looking that day for something for part two of the programme. something a little bit softer. “the email was only a couple of lines with a press release. but it said it was a “big london story” and that we would be “the first to cover it.” “when someone says that, you don’t want to miss out to a different organisation, and you know it will help you sell it to your editor. so, i wanted to check what he had got. “the other thing they did was attach a great picture, which showed us what we would be able to see if we went down. “when i phoned the person who sent it, he explained it was part of the wider crossrail development, which gave us a news angle as well. “and we’ve used them again because we know we will get a warm welcome, the visuals are good, and they will make time to put spokespeople up.” itv also recently covered a story that started with video footage of a staircase. “there was a local newspaper story that had embedded some footage from an estate agent about a disused stairwell being sold for £20,000,” he said. “the video helped us understand the story, what we would see if we went down there, and the journalist could start to structure the piece. “it also drew us in because it looked grim. “the other great point about this story is that when the reporter got down there, the estate agent was happy to be interviewed, as were the people living there. but we didn’t have a wider property expert to make a point about the market in london and why spaces like this were being offered for that kind of price. “so, it highlighted that we don’t have a great property contact, for example, who at the drop of the hat would be willing to go to a location and do an interview.” most pitches will be based on a press release. should all the text be included in the body of the email? the main rule here is to avoid including the press release as an attachment because it could crash inboxes, making you pretty unpopular. so, either include it as a link in the pitch email or in the text below the pitch. but whatever format you opt for, get to the point. “we don’t spend lots of time perusing press releases,” brendan said. “we are scanning and moving on to the next one if it doesn’t grab us. “i think a press release should almost be like a wedding invitation   this is what we are doing, this is where we are doing it, and here is a picture of the bride and groom. “keep it simple, concentrating on the 5ws (who, what, why, where and when). that’s how journalists think, and how press releases should look.” and that feels like the right point to bring in truth. it is an acronym we use during our media training courses to help delegates understand what makes something newsworthy, building on those 5ws. it stands for topical, relevant, unusual, trouble and human interest. topical   “we want the stories to be timely or trending,” victoria said. relevant   “the story needs to be relevant to the audience,” she added. “and relatable in terms of the language, images and spokespeople you use.” unusual   victoria said: “we love the ‘unusual’ element. it is something you can have a lot of fun with. it could be an unusual story, anecdote or figures. it could be the first, the biggest, the last, the cheapest, the most expensive or the longest. and there are those analogies, like ‘the size of wembley stadium’ and ‘the height of the empire state building’. if you can bring the unusual, our ears will prick up.” trouble   “we love a bit of trouble or tension to get the audience hooked,” victoria said. “some adversity that has been overcome works well.” human interest   “this is key and should probably come at the start, but the acronym would not make sense,” victoria said. “stories are about people. give us a case study. maybe your spokesperson has a personal story they can share that the audience will relate to.” brendan believes the template offers story pitches a solid foundation. he said: “i think if you only have three of these elements, you still have a fighting chance   i would say unusual, human interest and relevant.” to help bring this to life, brendan discussed a story he covered about pimlico plumbers and the uk’s oldest worker, who was 97 at the time. “this goes back a while, but i think it illustrates all the parts of truth   it was a clever bit of pr from charlie mullins at pimlico plumbers. “they said they had the country’s oldest worker   buster martin. “you don’t hear stories of someone that age still working. we went down and interviewed him   as did everyone else   and he was a great character. “he was authentic. at the time, there was a lot of talk about apprenticeships. he had been through all of that and was still working. “the other clever thing was that this was not buster’s last appearance. they kept the ball rolling as he became the oldest man to run the london marathon. “and we lapped it up.” so, you feel you have a newsworthy story to share. it passes the truth test. who should you pitch it to? firstly, you need to consider your target audience. is this a story that will appeal to a general audience? is it something more technical that will have greater appeal for a trade publication? once you are clear on that, you can build a mailing list of appropriate journalists. but despite the email preference, sometimes it is worth picking up the phone. “don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and speak to the newsdesk,” brendan said. “we will sometimes be impatient and busy. “but we are in the market for your stories   we have to fill a programme. “there are few people on planning desks. they don’t change often and tend to stay within the organisation for a long time. “so, get names and email addresses.” what about social media? is it worth contacting journalists through twitter (or x as it is now officially known)? brendan said: “once you know the names of the planning editors, you’ll be able to find them on twitter and see them making appeals.” but he also says there are social media places journalists use to source stories and interviewees. he said: “when looking for case studies and stories, there’s one place we always go to on facebook called lightbulb entrepreneur & press hangout. “if you go on there, you will see desperate planning editors from sky, bbc, itv london and newspapers looking for people to speak to about upcoming stories. “there is a constant flow of requests on there. “the hashtag #journorequest is worth keeping an eye on twitter. “social media is a good way to get yourself noticed. “we pick up on things that go viral, and that in itself becomes part of the story. “the key thing is to know what we want.” would it be better to approach an individual reporter rather than a newsdesk? “if you have a relationship with a reporter, then do that,” brendan said. “the journalist will have the heft, if they believe in the story, to get it through the process. “even better, the people with the real power are the presenters. “if a presenter says, ‘i think this is a story worth telling’, that’s quite difficult to bounce back.” bespoke courses are not our only training option. if you have someone a little more junior you need to train or are happy to attend a course with people from other organisations, an open course could be the right option. click here to see our latest media skills, presentation skills and podcasting open course dates. there’s plenty of advice on this topic. and you need to try to hit the send button at the right time. it is also worth remembering that something only stays newsworthy for a limited time. the vital thing with timing is to send your story well in advance of when you want it to run. brendan said: “if you get in touch two weeks before, we will put it to one side and forget about it. “i would say the optimum time is around five days, with a follow up reminder email closer to the time. “my advice would be to let the news planners get through the first few days of the week   they are quite gruelling, and they are under a lot of pressure. “thursdays and fridays are good days to get their attention. and afternoons work best.” “exclusive is a big word,” brendan said. “if someone offers you something exclusive, it catches the eye. “but how exclusive something can be in this day and age is something i would question. “so, i wouldn’t say exclusivity is a bonus. but it is something you pay attention to.” a golden question. jargon, vagueness, and a lack of news appeal often top the list. “don’t be too salesy,” brendan said. “telling us ‘this is the best thing that has ever happened to the automotive industry, and you will be a fool to miss out’ is a turn off. “we’ll decide   it is not for you to tell us how great it is.” a lack of timeliness is also infuriating. “it’s frustrating when you get an email about something that happened three days ago,” he said. “it is a waste of everyone’s time. “we look forward. it needs to be something happening in the future so we can think about how we will film it and the elements we will need to add to it.” but some things definitely grab his attention. he said: “a good thing to say to someone like me is ‘before we go to the bbc’ or ‘before we go to the times, we just want to give you a chance to think about this story’. “that immediately makes you think ‘oh, i better look at this   i don’t want to see this in the opposition tomorrow.” newsjacking is a term we increasingly hear more often. it basically means jumping on something that is already being covered or is trending. if you can offer a different opinion or element to the story, it can present a brilliant opportunity to grab attention and gain coverage for your organisation. “everyone follows the news, and there are things you can anticipate,” brendan said. “with the upcoming budget, we will look for case studies and sit down with businesses to see if what is announced is what they were looking for. “as we get close to a general election, we will think about how we can tell the story over the campaign period. it is likely newsrooms will look to form little business clubs they will turn to again and again. “if you think in those terms, you can say, ‘we are a button factory in catford, this is what we are hoping for from the budget or election. we’ve got some great characters. we’d be delighted if you could come down’.” brendan also thinks considering diversity can boost newsjacking efforts. he said: “itv has a commitment to diversity, but we are often offered male spokespeople. “we want to feature women, get the gender balance right, and speak to people from ethnic minorities. “we want our programmes to look like the people watching them.” some other potential newsjacking opportunities include the london mayoral election and its ulez battleground, the euro championships and the olympics. “sports events provide us with phenomenal human interest stories,” he said. “communities getting behind their athletes, former athletes backing their local hero, and schools cheering for their favourite england stars.” you need to be a member of the media team academy. click here to find out more about our learning and development programme for comms and media professionals. journalists and influencers can both play roles in helping your organisation reach wider audiences. but journalists are not keen on hearing about influencers in your news pitches. “i think there is a natural hesitancy for journalists when it comes to that kind of thing,” brendan said. “why should we believe what they are saying just because they have been on love island? “but celebrities are different. “i think immediately of barbara windsor, who did a lot of work with charities. every time her agent said she would like to come on and talk about something, she would walk through the door and be treated royally. “celebrity is a key to unlocking our attention.” not every pitch will result in a story. and there can be many reasons why you don’t achieve the coverage you want, including breaking stories changing the news agenda. “it is disappointing when that happens,” brendan said. “it doesn’t happen deliberately. we don’t go to the trouble of filming something and drop it to be mean. “it is because something else has come along, and we must cover breaking news. “how you deal with that can be a relationship builder. “if it is, ‘i understand, no hard feelings’, the next time you are in conversation with us, we’ll think you are someone we can work with. “so, don’t take rejection personally. but also, if you think we are missing out on a great story, don’t be afraid to phone. “ask to be put through to the planning desk and explain what we have missed   it is worth a go.” media first are media and communications training specialists with over 35 years of experience. we have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers. click here to find out more about our media training. media first are media and communications training specialists with nearly 40 years of experience. we have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers. what do two of the country’s leading banks, a powerhouse advertising company and high profile business leaders have in common? well, they have all been making headlines over changes to working from… we are often asked, “how do you make the biggest impact in media interviews?” well, as we stress during our media training sessions, less is always more   be clear, concise and compelling. clear… get in touch to discuss your training needs 0118 918 0530 or hello@mediafirst.co.uk or tell us how we can help… thank you for your message. we'll be in touch as soon as possible. © media first 2025. all rights reserved. web design by thirty seven. privacy and cookies.

fearless reporting, a behind the curtains look at how journalism is made   and an unabashed point of view. welcome to chills. share for many years, i felt i was in an absolute stranglehold with no story ideas. the oxygen that fed my writing felt thin. i’d come up with a single strong story and then mire for what felt like an eternity in nothingness until, slowly but finally, i’d find the next. i greatly envied my colleagues who were prolific. it took a lot of time for this to shift, but, fortunately, it did. somewhat and sometimes. and i’ll tell you how. even so, i occasionally look at my colleagues and wonder how they write as much as they do, but then i remind myself that i’ve also had my moments, like the time i came back from the syrian border and wrote eight 2,000 word stories in 10 days (trauma release, anyone?). in normal times, i keep in touch with contacts in the topic areas and geographical places in which i usually report   for me, that’s mainly migration, women’s rights/human rights and war crimes. that’s all part of having a beat (mine i call the “trauma beat,” and while it’s not a so called recognized one   outlets aren’t advertising for someone to cover the trauma beat, unlike, say, courts and cops, etc.   i can’t think of any other way to describe what i do). hopefully, even without my inquiries, my sources let me know if anything comes up. that’s about building trusting relationships. i also read a huge number of news outlets and ngo reports to get some ideas from others’ work. i look for any way my expertise could take a story in a new direction. the basic question i ask myself when approaching a story is, can i bring something new to this story in a way others can’t? that’s part of asking whether a story even needs another iteration. this especially applies to dangerous assignments. i learned a long time ago that reporting from my desk vs. out in the field is a game changer/breaker. as i always told my students at nyu’s graduate school of journalism, i want to be able to smell a story. and, without being on the ground, you can only rely on others for that smell. which is secondhand information, and smells degrade and may hit differently for different people. there is no substitute for being there. as a freelancer, however, i fund my own trips and rarely get anything close to the money i spend back. i’ve spent more than $15,000 of my own money in my career to report the stories i felt were critical. and that was okay when i had a side job that paid me regularly and gave me health insurance, but i was laid off from that more than a month ago. where would i even go if i could? last night, i had visions of gaza. how are women holding up? what about children? what do they do each day, living amid the ongoing destruction? could i glean some information about potential war crimes that could become important in future trials? there is no way i’m going to gaza, this morning told me, as appealing as it is to find the stories that need to be told. with nearly 100 journalists killed so far in the conflict, i’m not looking to be one of them. so here i am, at my desk in seattle, looking out upon the various greens of the budding trees and ready to dig in from afar. a christian palestinian israeli friend sent me a few ideas, and i’m going to see what i can do from here. being a journalist who covers war means assessing your safety at all times and deciding what risks are worth taking. it seems easy to say that, of course, i won’t go to israel/gaza. but the alternative is the drier reporting you get from me and other journalists sitting at our desks looking at our safe views. sometimes “safe” is the only option. other times, if a story that only you can tell merits it and you have the proper security training, then i say go. for now, i will not. chills is self funded, without ads. if you want to be a part of this effort, of revealing how difficult reporting is made   of sending me to places like ukraine to report for you   i hope you will consider subscribing for $50/year or $7/month. give a gift subscription sadly, there are other locations on the "trauma beat" to report. ukraine, sudan, and israel are all still under daily attack by hostile forces. let me be among the first to say we are glad you aren't considering going to gaza. even if later you reconsider, i'm very glad you are safe. no posts ready for more?

something went wrong. wait a moment and try again.
for legacy cision communications cloud customers for new cision communications cloud customers gain unparalleled reach and visibility for your press releases and establish credibility by working with the most trusted distribution service. in the industry, “wire” has a special meaning, history, and connotation. understanding the who, what, when, and where will help you to make the best decisions for your news distribution. download this free guide to learn exactly how media outlets get their news stories, how wire news is delivered around the world, and how to find which distribution is right for you cisionone outreach. proactively discover the journalists and influencers who will tell your story best with the world's most accurate, global database of human validated media profiles. cision and prweek have joined forces yet again to identify and understand the biggest challenges and opportunities for communicators right now. cisionone monitoring. see the most relevant news, trends and conversations that matter to your brand with the world’s most comprehensive monitoring service. we surveyed more than 3,000 journalists worldwide to learn what's new and what's next for today's media landscape. the combination of expert research teams and proprietary monitoring technology to get human curated briefings, advanced media analysis and actionable next steps. the struggle to prove the impact of pr is real, but with a little innovation and tactical planning, it can be done. see how industry powerhouses adobe and ford were able to accomplish it. with so many social media tools, news feeds, aggregate sites and deadlines competing for a journalist’s attention it can be virtually impossible to figure out what makes for a successful pitch. pr professionals need to stand out from the sea of distractions to get their message read by a journalist or blogger. unfortunately, getting your message in front of an influencer is only half the battle. convincing a media contact to actually write about a company   that’s even more challenging. so, how do you stand out in a journalist’s already inundated inbox without resorting to tricks or gimmicks? and, even if a journalist likes your pitch, how do you get the story covered? let’s review some strategies that are not only proven to work from the pr perspective, but that are also supported by journalists, bloggers and media influencers. before you send a pitch, you should know what topics the journalist does and does not cover.