Before landing a job with Army Public Affairs, I worked as a reporter and business editor in the Kansas City area, and every day I was overwhelmed with pitches from public relations professionals.
With looming deadlines, the daunting requirement of writing several stories each week and the constant need to fill page upon page with content, I relied heavily on PR pros for story ideas and content to fill space.
Throwing the perfect media pitch
Unfortunately, many who I encountered had not mastered the art of pitching; in fact, most were annoying instead of helpful. So, I would like to share some of the most important tips I learned as a reporter that may help you on your next media pitch.
Relationships matter. Don’t wait until your first pitch to get to know a reporter. As a PR pro, you should make it a priority to get to know reporters, especially those in your area. We are all taught about targeting your audience, and when you pitch, your audience is the reporter. So, get to know them. One thing that drove me crazy was when I would receive an email addressed to someone else or to “Whom it may concern” (come on, most email addresses today contain the person’s name).
Pick up the phone. Yes, I said it, use your phone to actually make a phone call instead of texting, emailing or tweeting. To me, successful pitches are usually done over the phone as an email can get lost, forgotten about or accidentally deleted in the necessary evil called an inbox. Oh, and when you do finally make the call, don’t forget about deadlines. The worst mistake a PR pro can make is to call a reporter when he or she is on deadline.
Prepare your media pitch. Never pick up the phone without some preparation. Write out what you want to say and make sure you can answer the “So what” question. Trust me, reporters will ask you, “So what?” Don’t talk too long, don’t act as if you are the reporter’s best friend, get straight to the point and make sure you have an angle, because guess what?
Angles matter. My biggest pet peeve as a reporter was when someone in PR would call me up and start going on and on about something that really didn’t matter to me or my readers. If your story doesn’t appeal to a reporter’s audience, what’s the point? Without an angle, don’t bother wasting the reporter’s time or yours.
Just say “No” to social media. Thanks to the creation of social media, reporters are writing stories quicker than ever. So why scoop them by posting the stories you pitched to your organization’s social media sites? Have patience, wait and don’t worry, chances are the reporter’s work will get more “likes” or “re-tweets” than your own.
Press releases are not pitches. Of course, we all know that writing press releases is a basic function of PR, but it is not the only one. Do not solely rely on press releases to do your pitching. If you really want a reporter to know a story is important, pick up the phone first and then follow up with an email that includes a well-written press release.
Throw a media pitch like a reporter
In my current position, my experience as a reporter has contributed to many successful pitches that have resulted in stories being covered by NBC Nightly News, USA Today, The Washington Times, and The History and Discovery channels just to name a few. Trust me, if you want to have good pitches, think like a reporter. These simple tips may help you with that or they just might make you less annoying than the other PR pro.
Tiffany Wood is the Public Affairs Officer of Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. She is responsible for the installation’s media relations, community relations and command information programs. Prior to working for the Army, Tiffany was a reporter in Kansas City, Mo. Connet with her on LinkedIn.
