Outreach

Media pitch

press pitch · story pitch

Definition

Media pitch is a short, targeted request that a specific journalist consider a specific story. It names the hook, why that person, what you can provide (interview, data, photos, embargo timing), and how to reach the spokesperson. It is not a press release pasted into an email and it is not a newsletter blast with 400 BCC names.

A usable pitch can be read on a phone in under a minute. The first sentence is the story, not the company. The second sentence is the evidence. The third is the offer. Anything after that is optional context the reporter can ignore.

How it works

Write from the reporter’s last few pieces. If they cover hospital staffing, do not open with your Series B. Offer one angle. If you have two, send two separate notes on different days or pick one. Attach or link proof. State on-the-record status. If you need an embargo, put the date in the subject and the first line, and do not send that version to a personal Gmail list.

Example: subject line “Embargo 10 a.m. ET Tue: 31% of rural ERs lost a night shift in 12 months.” Body: two sentences on the finding, one sentence on n=428 hospitals and the methods URL, one sentence offering the researcher for 20 minutes, one sentence that a regional table can be cut per state. Sent to 18 health-labor reporters who wrote rural hospital stories in the past year. Three ask for the table. One files. That pitch did its job even though the hit rate was 1 of 18. A 400-person blast of “thought leadership availability” would have produced a worse reply rate and a burned list.

Follow-up is part of the pitch, not a separate genre. One bump with a new fact or a tighter local cut is normal. A third email that only asks “just checking in” is noise.

How it differs

A press release is a document many people can use. A pitch is a note to one person about why that document is their story. An exclusive pitch promises the first shot to a single outlet and should say so. Newsjacking pitches attach to a breaking story and die in hours. A contributed-article pitch asks for a byline slot, which is a different sale than a reported piece.

Common errors

Subject lines that name the client instead of the news. Attachments in the first touch. Claiming “exclusive” to six desks. Pretending a product update is a study. Writing in brand voice instead of desk voice. Measuring pitches sent instead of conversations started.

Sources