One thing not to include in an email to a journalist

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Hi everyone

I could probably write a Buzzfeed style listicle of what not to include in an email to a journalist (maybe that's a newsletter I'll write one day), but I wanted to hone in today on founders and PRs needlessly apologising to journalists when they're emailing them.

I'll give you a couple of examples of emails I've received recently:

“Sorry to bother you but I thought you might be interested in news that....”

“I apologise for messaging...”

Now I know journalists are inundated with emails (who isn't?) but as long as you've done your research in targeting said journalist and the publication, there is nothing to apologise for if you're simply sending over a pitch. You're just doing your job. And remember, this is what freelance journalists do for a living – they pitch into the void too.

Sorry can be like a verbal tick, especially to us Brits who seem to have a real penchant for the word. But apologising for sending a pitch won't impress a journalist, it just makes the sender look like they're lacking in confidence. Instead of apologising, just go straight into the pitch.

Of course, if you screw up (which we all do sometimes), then by all means say sorry. But otherwise, stop apologising.

Have a great rest of the week.

Thanks
Susie

Why you need to research who you're pitching to

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When you have a story you want to sell into the press, as many of you with PR experience will know, you'll need to work out which journalists to contact.

I'm begging you not to just send it to any old journalist. I receive so many emails/messages on LinkedIn/Facebook DMs from businesses and PRs who think that because I'm a journalist I'll write about them or their client. Same applies to pretty much every journalist I've ever spoken to.

Please don't clog up our inboxes or contact a journalist "just in case" (words I'll regularly see accompanying a pitch).  It adds to our already stifling inbox and really doesn't help with building relationships with the media. It's like contacting an electrician about a plumbing job. I would never send an editor a pitch about gaming if their beat was music. And I wouldn't pitch a magazine without buying it and really looking at what they cover. 

You need to research which journalists your story might suit.

A journalist who specialises in tech? Women's issues? Education?

Research who's writing about your/your clients' competitors. Look at who is writing about your sector via Google News. Buy magazines and newspapers and browse the various sections. Look at the bylines to see who's writing about your industry. Check out media databases. If they're a generalist like me, you need to be specific and have a targeted pitch with case studies. Look at what we write on Muckrack. There you'll get a sense of the stories we like to cover.

Have a great weekend,

Susie

Journalism has a diversity issue

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The brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of the police has sparked widespread outrage across the globe, with thousands of people from Bristol to Rio de Janeiro protesting at the treatment of black people and expressing the need for systematic change.

During the past couple of weeks we've seen brands show solidarity by uploading a single black square with the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday across their social media platforms and aligning themselves with the #blacklives movement.

While it's fantastic to see brands utilising their platforms in such a positive way, outsiders are skeptical about companies jumping on the bandwagon and posting content that's hypocritical - showcasing a black grid after themselves falling short of stamping out racism in their own companies or failing to move away using from all-white models in their campaigns or not having a diverse board, can be seen as laughable.

But you only need to look at the presenters on TV or quickly scan the faces of columnists in the UK papers to see there's a diversity problem in journalism too. Visit a newspaper newsroom and you'll be confronted by a sea of white, middle class, and often privately educated journalists.

Around 94% of journalists are white – higher than the proportion of the UK workforce as a whole, according to the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). Further figures are eye opening: black journalism students are less likely to be working as a journalist than white journalism students (8% compared with 26%).

The NCTJ puts the lack of diversity in the media down to several reasons - employers are mainly taking on a graduate-only workforce, therefore choosing a subset who are less diverse; students from minority groups not wanting to enter journalism and employers have selective bias.

There's various diversity schemes and funds in place such as the NCTJ Diversity Fund but more needs to be done to publicise journalism as an attractive career across all parts of society. And I say this as someone who is working class and seen more people from my school year go to prison than work in the media.

There's more that we can all do, myself included. Personally when I'm writing articles I look for a diverse range of case studies and specify this when I'm pushing out requests on ResponseSource or speaking to press officers and PRs. Having a representative bank of case studies is something I mention in my talks. Is there someone else in the organisation that you can put forward to speak to the press? 

Also, ask if you/your company are best placed to put out a particular view. Is it really time to push out an email asking if a journalist wants to speak to a white HR director at a company with an all-white board to express their views about how companies can be more representative?

Lots to consider and work on.

Have a great week,
Susie

Why I'm Not Going To Be Covering Your Press Release

Every day my inbox is teeming with press releases. News of a new launch. A new product. A merger. A new campaign. Some of the news I might have written in my old life as a reporter, whereas the title might indicate, my job was to cover news in my industry. During that time, strong interesting stories pinging in my inbox were gratefully received.

But not now. Today, like many freelancers, I write features. So those press releases dropping in my inbox are often a waste of time for everyone. As well as most not concerning the sectors I write about (that's another newsletter), the simple fact is I don't write news stories so I'm not going to be reporting on your press release. I no longer sit on a news desk writing about new launches so the hard truth is that unless you're able to come up with a solid feature idea (something I talk about a lot in my webinars and online course) related to the press release, it can be just a waste of an email.

Also, it's worth pointing out that if the news is going to get picked up, it will be covered by an in-house journalist so if we pitched the idea to an editor – it's already out there. And they're not going to pay us to write up a news release. As much as I wish during these challenging times.

Why We All Need To Be More Sensitive During These Torrid Times

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Journalism was already taking a battering pre-Coronavirus and now, with fewer companies advertising and people not venturing to the shops as frequently, we're seeing the industry face an even graver threat to its future. 

Last week Buzzfeed announced it was shelving its UK and US operations, Conde Nast revealed it was reducing its headcount by 100 while the Guardian said it was closing its dating arm, Guardian Soulmates (although this is largely influenced by changes in the dating market). While there's no doubt some publications focused on cooking, gardening and home are enjoying a rise in sales, overall it's a torrid time for the industry. Here in the UK quite early on we saw City AM close its print edition temporarily and the London Evening Standard reduce its distribution.

Against this backdrop, it's worth remembering that many journalists may have been furloughed, lost their jobs or seen their workload shoot through the roof as they take on their ex colleagues' work.

Many freelance journalists have lost work as a result of the pandemic. Personally a regular Guardian slot of my mine has gone (but will hopefully return) whilst across freelance journalist Facebook groups my peers are quite rightly concerned about the future as commissions drastically fall.

Although there are still plenty of opportunities for PRs and founders, for many freelancers, there are less places to pitch to. It's just something worth noting when you're pitching. It's a point made in my ebook as some journalists complained about getting chased needlessly at the peak of the coronavirus. Recently someone emailed me three times in a week regarding a pitch for a product I wouldn't usually cover. 

There can be upshots to waiting. A piece I pitched the Metro in April was responded to – and commissioned – without prompt, two weeks later.

Oh, and some good news, for those who haven't seen it already. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and newspaper group DMGT have joined forces to give away £3m worth of advertising space.

If you're looking for ways to improve your press coverage, I'm running two webinars this month. If you can't make it, the webinars will still be sent to your inbox afterwards for you to view for the next three months. 

Have a great week,

Susie