How to Pitch Reporters

Pitching Reporters over the Phone

Common etiquette dictates that callers should follow a certain protocol when reaching out to a reporter over the phone, but viewers and readers rarely follow this. How would you feel if you answered your phone at home, and someone started telling you a problem without saying hello, or asking if it was a good time to talk? Now you know how reporters, producers and assignment desk managers feel when they pick up their phone at work and hear strangers immediately ramble into a problem.

If you are following up with an email release or trying to pitch a story over the phone, ask the reporter if you are reaching him at a good time before you jump into the pitch. If he says he is under deadline, ask him when is the best time to call him, thank him, and then say good-bye. I personally don’t like receiving pitches over the phone because I have found that a person’s thought process is more scattered when he is verbally pitching a story.

When it is on paper, the pitch seems more to the point and I can jump ahead to see if there is a story buried between the lines. That being said, some reporters still do prefer phone pitches because it gives them a chance to press the person with more questions. Whichever the preference, you will be hard-pressed to find a reporter who likes receiving story pitches over voicemail. Callers tend to drag on and on without any focus. If you get a voicemail, you are probably better off just hanging up. Wait until you get the person over the phone to make your pitch. And try to be empathetic. I’ll admit reporters and producers can sometimes be rude. Many of them are kind people outside of work but they get frustrated like many other people with their jobs. If you reach a reporter on a bad day, and he is rude over the phone, just remember everyone is occasionally entitled to a bad day. And please don’t hold their rudeness against all journalists, just like most of us don’t hold a grudge against all rude viewers and readers.


Personalize Your Pitch

Reporters and producers know when they are receiving a massive email blast. The pitch is not personalized, it doesn’t cite the producer or reporter’s name and it is written for a broad audience. These emails are rarely read past the first sentence because most of the time these ideas are worthless. Many people think they are making progress by getting their emails out to the largest number of journalists, but they’re not. It’s not productive if no one reads the release or if the email is sent to the wrong journalist.

Take the time to personalize the approach to the reporter, telling him in that first sentence why you think he is the right person for this story. Add the person’s first and last name at the top of the email, so he will believe the release is sent directly to him. And never, ever send an email release that lists the email addresses of everyone receiving the pitch. Some publicists have told me they believe this inspires competition, believing the reporter will move faster if he knows the story is available to other journalists. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In most cases, the reporter or producer will assume he is dealing with an inexperienced publicist, which means the odds are slim that the story pitch will be unique and valuable. He will also assume that the story has less value since every other reporter has it. If you have a solid idea, personalize the pitch and it will be better received.

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