Emerging mediums, smaller newsrooms and evolving technologies are transforming today’s media landscape. And both PR professionals and journalists are struggling to keep up.
I recently moderated a media panel featuring three Chicago-based reporters: Ainsley Harris, a senior writer at Fast Company magazine, Anthony Ponce, co-anchor of Good Day Chicago on FOX 32 and John Pletz, a senior reporter at Crain’s Chicago Business.
As players on the frontline of today’s B2B media scene, the trio shared valuable insights on how PR professionals can pitch more effectively while navigating these shifts. Here are five takeaways from that conversation.
1. Take the time to understand the reporters and mediums you’re pitching.
Reporters receive hundreds of emails each day, so their time and attention are in short supply. “It’s an avalanche,” said Anthony. “There’s no chance of us getting to all of the emails we receive.”
The key to breaking through the noise is to go back to the basics, he explained: Understand who you’re pitching and what medium you’re using, and tailor your approach accordingly.
In her role at Fast Company, a print publication, Ainsley works on articles set to be published six months later. She needs pitches about trends coming months down the road, not tomorrow’s headlines. “It has to hit that sweet spot where it’s timely, but not newsy.”
On the other hand, Anthony, who works in broadcast, is looking for pitches that are current, local and visual. “We’re going on the air every day, and we need things that are compelling visually,” he said. “If I receive a pitch with a lot of charts and graphs, I look at that and think, ‘This is a newspaper story.’”
2. Establish credibility with relevant, tailored pitches.
One point came across loud and clear from all three panelists: Generic pitches sent to mass distribution lists are easy to spot — and easy to ignore.
Anthony noted that sometimes he won’t open an email sent by a specific person if they have a track record of sharing irrelevant stories or a history of firebombing his inbox. “The pitches that are individualized — ‘Anthony, I saw your story on this and I know this happened in Chicago yesterday. I thought you’d be a good match for this possible story.’ That’s more likely to get my attention.”
Ainsley added, “I often find I really like the pitches I receive through my personal website. I find it’s where people with good tips or sources will reach out … It’s not the email blast. It’s thoughtful.”
John emphasized that good pitches lead to good relationships, and those are more important now than they’ve ever been. “If you were helpful, useful, valuable — that is incredible currency. Don’t be afraid to follow up on a successful pitch and maintain that relationship.”
3. Keep it short and to the point.
All three journalists agreed that pitches should be informative but to the point.
“Generally, folks who are swamped want shorter pitches. Less is more,” said Anthony. “If it looks like it’s copied and pasted, and you’re giving me a long abstract study with just too many words, then it’s not going to land most of the time.”
“You really have to be great at summarizing what the story is and what the pitch is. If you can nail that, the other stuff doesn’t really matter,” John added. “It’s not so much being clever to get my attention. It’s what are you pitching and who is your audience?”
4. Don’t expect to control the narrative.
I asked our panelists how PR pitches factor into their story ideas, and Ainsley shared that most of her stories come from her own ideas or discussions with her team. She noted that, while PR can play a part, individual pitches don’t usually drive her stories.
In one example, she explained, “My editors were getting a million pitches for menopause-related products, services, start-ups. And it wasn’t necessarily one pitch that became a story. Just the trend itself of seeing so many things happening in that space … That led to a feature where I ended up talking to many of the people that pitched us, but also did a lot of other reporting.”
John shared a similar example of a pitch that evolved into a story about United Airlines’ capacity at O’Hare Airport. “I just asked the question and then did what reporters do. I asked a dumb question, and I was surprised by the answer,” he said. “Never underestimate that opportunity.”
5. Throw out the rulebook — it’s time to experiment.
To close the media panel, I asked our panelists the biggest question on our minds: What does the future of media look like?
Ainsley explained how Fast Company has evolved beyond just print and digital. “We have events. We have podcasts. We have this broader way of thinking about who we are, and that definitely affects my work.”
The panelists agreed that as journalists take on more responsibilities, they’re also trying to keep up with shifting audiences, just like PR professionals.
“It’s all just very fluid. Who are you trying to reach, and where are those people? It’s such a complicated question right now,” Ainsley shared. “We’re thinking about it too.”
So, what does this all mean for the future of media?
“It’s exciting. It’s a great time to experiment.” Ainsley said. “I just feel like there aren’t as many rules right now and that is both a good thing and also a challenging thing.”
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