Pitch Horror Stories: 3 Mistakes That Make Reporters’ Skin Crawl

It's officially spooky season and boy do I have some scary PR stories to tell you!

When I started my career as a journalist, my inbox was flooded with pitches that would make you shudder. From a typo in the pitcher’s own name to just being plain boring, many pitches make reporters cringe and promptly drop the email in their trash folder. And while I might be exaggerating a little bit, a poorly executed pitch is always obvious to the reporter and may be preventing you from showing up in the news, even if you have some great ideas.

Here are a few mistakes to avoid if you don’t want to be a reporter’s next pitch horror story.

1. Not knowing – or even worse, ignoring – a reporter’s beat

In the journalism world, it’s common for a reporter to have a specific “beat” – an area of the news they cover. One of the most common mistakes we see is people pitching reporters that don’t cover that topic. Take, an education reporter that receives a pitch about national hot dog day – say what? Unless there was a hot dog event to raise funds for a school, an education reporter has no interest in that story, and neither does their audience.

What’s worse, though, is when pitchers don’t understand what reporters cover and still try to convince them to cover their story. One affordable-housing-focused journalist told me that she was contacted by a rain gutter company. Even after politely telling the company their gutter story wasn’t something she would cover, they still tried to convince the reporter she should cover their story.

A simple “[outlet name] masthead” Google search can save you and the reporter a lot of headaches. Or, if you’re not sure, you can try reaching out to the Managing Editor who may be able to connect you with the correct reporter. At the end of the day, if you get a “no,” respectfully thank them for their time, reevaluate your pitch, and research other potential reporters at different outlets.

2. Pitching a story that’s just boring, or is “old news”

Journalism moves fast. Reporters sift through numerous pitches per day to determine what’s most newsworthy. A story that’s boring or old news is simply not going to make the cut.

A boring story is one that is relevant to a very small pool of people, doesn’t have much impact, and is not uncommon to everyday happenings. Even if the story is interesting, you may be missing the mark with your pitch. Don’t beat around the bush. Get to the point of your pitch, why it’s relevant to the outlet’s audience, what makes it unique, and why it should be covered now. 

That brings us to old news. That super cool event you did last month? Sorry, it’s probably never going to make it into the news. Readers care about what’s happening now and, more importantly, why it matters to them. 

3. Making it all about you or your company

Public relations is not the space to plug your new product; save that for your digital marketing platforms or LinkedIn. Public relations is useful for building your credibility. You wouldn’t believe the amount of promotional, spam-like pitches that make it to journalists’ inboxes. Sending a well-planned and executed, non-promotional pitch may just be unique enough to get you published.

One reporter received a pitch wanting a story on how their company… existed? Simply existing is definitely not newsworthy enough for a story. And no outlet is going to let you take advantage of free advertising. However, if your company recently held a community event, that might give you a better chance.

It pays to be obsessed with your customer and what they care about. Once you identify the outlets your customer would trust, think about what all the consumers of that outlet want to hear about. At the end of the day, PR is really not about you, what you think is interesting, or how awesome you are. It’s about the problem you’re trying to solve, how you are helping people, and what value you provide to your target audience. 

This October, let’s make reporters’ inboxes a little less scary and avoid these common mistakes. Want to perfect the art of pitching? Sign up for our PR Accelerator and we’ll help you craft 5 perfect pitches that will help you get reporters’ attention, without ending up being remembered as a horror story.