PR: Targeting The Appropriate Reporters

As PR professionals, we are often asked to create news where there isn't any available. The enterprising process for stories is often times difficult and tedious. It generally means leaving no stones unturned and searching for connections between seemingly disparate topics.

Sometimes you may develop a great pitch with a storyline that would fit for your executive - one that you haven't seen discussed much in the media. The pitch may have legs and land your team a couple of interviews, pending that you are pitching the right journalists.

I have written in the past before that PR professionals need to stop blasting pitches and releases to any journalist that may even have smallest amount of potential interest. And I do believe that that is still the case.

But even pitches that are carefully researched, developed and fine-tooth combed still may not resonate with certain journalists. Two different reporters for a website may cover the same topic. One may focus on a strictly news basis - executive leadership changes, product announcements, etc. - while the other may prefer to try and create a dialogue with her readers - thought leadership and industry trends.

As PR pros, we have to be able to look at what a reporter writes about most frequently, combined with the contents of our pitch, and target the correct reporters. Just because two journalists cover the news of a new Nike shoe doesn't mean that they should receive the same pitch. This is especially true if one focuses on the information in the press release and the other covers the design and craftsmanship.

I was following up with a reporter who didn't like my original topic and asked me what else my executive had to discuss with him. When I let him know that our team was working to develop another storyline, he came back to me with six simple words that summed up what I should have remembered just looking at his coverage history: "Here's a hint: come with news."

I won't lie: I thought that the pitch was good. The topic is something that he covers. But there was no way a conversation with him and my executive would have taken place given his writing style and that's a fact I should have recognized before I pitched him.

The art of the media pitch is difficult to master. It is why there are so many bad PR people out there that are clogging the inboxes of experts (not that I claim to be one) and giving the profession a bad name. Before you send out your next pitch, take an extra second to put yourself in the reporter's shoes and consider whether this is a conversation that they would be truly interested in having. If the answer "no" crosses your mind for even a second, then it should be back to the drawing board.