The key way to target journalists (which most media lists overlook)
Why you should target journalists by type, not just topic
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We all know that who you send your pitch to is as important, if not more so, than what your article idea is and how you present it.
Getting your pitch in front of the right journalist is essential if it’s ever going to be published, because even the best story won’t get out there until it’s in the hands of the people reporting on that issue.
As you’re reading this newsletter, I’m going to take a leap and assume that you’re not a fan of the ‘spray and pray’ technique of firing a press release out to hundreds of journalists and hoping something will stick. So I’m not going to waste your time explaining why I think this is a bad tactic. (And I thank you, for not adding to the volume of irrelevant press releases in my inbox on window cleaning and dog trends...)
But if you want to build carefully tailored media lists, it’s worth bearing in mind that while there are all sorts of (often expensive) media database platforms out there which promise to connect you with the right journalists, most seem to overlook a really vital factor.
Narrowing your target list down to journalists who cover the exact subject area of your story is a very good place to start. But you are almost certainly going to be sending some wasted emails if you don’t also tailor your list of journalists by type, as well as topic.
Let me share a recent example to show you what I mean…
A pitch to two journalists
A few weeks ago, I received a PR pitch for a story based on a first-person case study.
The PR professional who sent it let me know they had first pitched it to one of my colleagues and was waiting to hear back from them. (Side note: Transparency like this over who else has seen the pitch is so helpful when you’re working with freelancers like me, so we know which editors and publications we can pitch to).
I was happy to wait for that journalist’s response before taking on the idea, because I already knew they would say “no” (and they did). It was a strong story, and it was in a subject area they cover regularly. But this particular journalist almost never does first-person case studies, as they normally write wider issue-focused news stories based on data.
I, on the other hand, often write case study-focused features - so it was ideal for me.
The original pitch wasn’t badly targeted. It was relevant to my colleague’s patch. But it was always going to be a “no” from them because they don’t write this type of article.
What does article ‘type’ mean?
Journalists don't just focus on certain topics, we tend to end up specialising in certain types of article too.
There are so many possible types of article, including:
Breaking news stories about things which are happening right now
News stories about what people have said or are doing (e.g. political coverage)
Data-based news stories
Colourful features which bring a topic to life
In-depth investigations, as news stories or features
First-person and ghost-written case study stories
Advice articles (If you own a car, here’s what you need to know this winter… etc)
Opinion pieces and columns
Reviews and guides
Listicles
Expert-led articles (Window cleaning expert reveals… etc)
Newsletters
Most journalists will do a combination of some of these things - but I can’t think of anyone who does all of these things.
This is particularly true of staff journalists (aka, those who are directly employed by a publication, rather than freelance), who often get pigeonholed into one specific style of reporting. Back when I was a staff news journalist, I was never allowed to write features, for example.
This is shifting a bit as newsrooms a) lose staff numbers and b) realise that multimedia journalism is the future. But it’s still largely the case that a news journalist will primarily be writing news, not features. And you will rarely find an investigative journalist writing lifestyle listicles - or vice versa.
Why type matters
It’s not the end of the world if you send, say, a health listicle pitch to a health journalist who never writes listicles. I get these all the time and I get why. I’m down on media lists as someone covering “health”, so it makes sense I get health-themed pitches.
I don’t get huffy about it (although some journalists with more overwhelmed inboxes than mine might send irrelevant pitches to spam) - but I’m also never going to cover these pitches. It’s a waste of an email and, especially if you’ve put effort into writing a tailored intro, a waste of your time.
This is why I’m a such big advocate for researching what type of article the journalists you’re targeting write before you press send.
I do the same when I pitch to editors. There is absolutely no point in me pitching an opinion piece, for example, to an editor who only commissions researched features. It shows I’ve failed to understand (or properly read) the publication - which is the number one thing editors tell me they hate to see in pitches they receive.
How do I find out what type of article journalists write?
Working out what types of article a journalist on your list might write all comes down to research - but there are some shortcuts you can try to make life easier.
Certain words are often used in headlines or subheadings of specific article types - and searching for these can help you find the journalists who write them. For example, if you’re pitching a product to feature in a guide or review, for example, you want to look for articles which feature words like “top”, “best” and “guide” in the headline, while in-depth investigations will probably have words like “exclusive”, “investigation”, “reveal” or “expose”.
You could search for journalists linked to these terms by:
Doing a Google search
Searching within publication websites for the keywords and seeing whose bylines come up in your topic area
Filtering a media database by topic area and the keywords
Asking ChatGPT to find you journalists who regularly write articles on your topic which contain these keywords
In all cases, you’ll get better results if you double-check your list of journalists by going onto publication author pages and journalists’ social media pages to see what the journalists have actually been writing - and sharing - in the past 12 months.
And if you’re using ChatGPT, it’s worth asking it if the journalists it suggests “would actually cover this pitch” and share yours. Because it tends to be unhelpfully flattering, until you ask it to actually be honest…
This sounds like a lot of work…
Researching is a giant pain. In all honesty, one of the things that puts me off pitching to new publications is knowing I will have to do a lot of research first into exactly who is the right person to email and exactly what they want.
But I don’t pitch without doing this, because I know there’s no point.
Editors’ inboxes are overflowing and your pitch is in competing for their attention alongside hundreds of other emails and daily demands. You want yours to be that one that catches their eye and makes them think: “Yes, this is exactly what I need!” And that’s most likely to happen if it’s beautifully tailored to them.
Of course you don’t have to do this level of research into journalists before pitching to them.
But in a world where competition for attention is so fierce, this extra layer of research might be the thing that ensures your pitch gets in front of the right person.
Did you know…
Get Featured is not just a newsletter, it’s a media consultancy service.
If you enjoy the advice I share here every Monday, you can now get more of it tailored to you by booking an in-person or online Get Featured session with me. I offer personalised sessions including:
A 1:1 power hour - where you can discuss a single pitch idea, project or strategy in detail with me and get advice on how best to pitch it.
Lunch & Learns - choose from an informal Q&A chat where you can ask me anything about pitching and what’s going on in the media right now, or a comprehensive presentation (with Q&A) on how to adapt your pitches to succeed in the current media climate.
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