The document provides an overview of a webinar on pitching stories to reporters. It discusses researching reporters and their needs, practicing good reporter etiquette, understanding different media outlets, developing memorable story hooks and angles, and practicing pitches. A special guest, NPR reporter Tom Banse, will also provide tips on pitching to reporters. Attendees are invited to provide feedback on the webinar.

1. Tom Banse
Thanks for joining us. We will begin a few minutes
past the hour to allow everyone time to settle in.
Sian Wu
Story Pitching: How to Get in Tune
with Reporters’ Needs
November 2010

2. About Resource Media
• Communications Strategy
• Execution and Outreach
• Digital and Social Media
• Environmental and Health Focus

3. Staff
30
9 Offices
San Francisco Seattle Boulder Kalispell Sacramento
Bozeman Portland Salt Lake City Anchorage

4. Have a question? Need help?

5. 1. Research your pitch
2. Practice your pitch
3. Practice good reporter etiquette
4. Understand your audience: the media
5. Make it memorable: hooks and angles
6. Special Guest: NPR Reporter Tom Banse
What we’ll
cover today

6. Tuning up:
research your pitch
1

7. First ask:
• How will media achieve my
end goal?
• No media is a strategy
Think strategy

8. • Aggressive?
• Informative?
• Buzz-building?
• Base-activating?
What kind of story do you want?

9. • Has this been covered before?
• Who’s been quoted on this?
• How is the issue currently framed?
• What types of outlets would be most
influential?
• Who writes on this?
• Do we want to go national or local
first?
Do a sound check

10. Know their beats

11. Make a note of:
• What they’re interested in
• The stories/blogs they’ve written
• Who doesn’t want to be called
• Who is on social media
• Their status after your pitch
Keep tabs on them

12. Practice good
reporter etiquette
2

13. Be mindful of their lives:
• Pitched by hundreds of people
• Working on daily deadlines
• Need to answer to their editors
• Need a good visual (especially true
for TV)

14. • “Just calling to follow up.”
• “Wanted to make sure you
got it.”
Irksome words
Sometimes I just
popup for no particular
reason, like now.

15. Build relationships
Support their work by:
• Spreading good reporting to your
networks
• Posting stories to your blog and
newsletter
• Following reporters on Twitter and
retweeting their content
• Commenting on stories online

16. Find them on Twitter
Media on Twitter:
• http://mediaontwitter.com
Muckrack:
• http://muckrack.com
Journalist Tweets:
• http://journalisttweets.com/
search

17. Grace under fire

18. • What are their pitch
preferences?
• What are they
interested in?
• Where can you read
more or connect?
Listen

19. Know when to let go

20. Understanding your
audience: the media
3

21. Stay in tune with a reporter’s needs
• Access to spokespeople
• Quality images, logos and
video
• Embargo lift date and time
• Transparency
• Timeline of important decisions
• Access to primary documents

22. TV needs
• It’s all about the visual
• Don’t make them go the distance
• “If it bleeds it leads”
• Keep in mind competition and
sweeps weeks
• Demonstrations and personality

23. Stay in tune with a reporter’s wants
• Peculiarity
• Proximity
• Prominence
• Promptness
• Peer review

24. • Blatant self promotion
• Internal news
• Opinion—ax to grind
• Pitch robots
What strikes a bad chord?

25. Mending fences
• Recognize ideologically hostile
press
• Show them you’re a real person
• Change up your spokespeople
• Hit other outlets

26. Make it memorable:
hooks and angles
4

27. Develop your news hook
What’s:
• New
• Interesting
• Surprising
• Timely
• Relevant or
• Localize a national story

28. What are the impacts that haven’t
been covered yet?
• Economic
• Political
• Environmental
• Social
• Health
Identify the problem, substitute a
better question and reframe
positively
Find the right angle

29. • Always call with breaking
news
• Be mindful of deadlines
• Give advance notice for
events or feature story ideas
• Suggest a meeting or field trip
• Try, try again
The conflict angle
• Media loves it
• How to avoid it
• When to play it up

30. It’s not all about you
Let the news lead with your organization as a
supporting character in the story

31. Warming up:
practice your pitch
5

32. Practice your pitch
• Role play with a coworker
• Think of tough reporter questions
• For email pitches:
• Lead with the big news
• Keep it short
• Use AP style and proofread
• Stay jargon-free

33. • Know the main messages
• Line up facts and figures
• But don’t read from a script
Be prepared

34. Know your land mines
What topics are no-go
zones?
Who can speak to that?
Don’t say anything you
wouldn’t want to see in
the story:
• On the record
• Off the record
• On background

35. • Consider how media will help
you achieve your goal
• Know your reporters really well
by being a news junkie
• Understand reporter deadlines
and inboxes
• All good stories need a good
hook
• News stories aren’t all about you
Reminders:

36. Special guest: Tom Banse
Tom Banse
Northwest
Regional
Correspondent
NPR News

37. Sian Wu
Program Director
Seattle Office
sian@resource-media.org
206.374.7795 x102
@ThatsSoEco
Tom Banse
Northwest Regional
Correspondent
NPR News
We welcome your questions!

38. 1. Would you recommend this webinar to a friend?
2. How would you rate this webinar on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1
as not helpful and 10 as very helpful for my work?
3. Suggestions for future webinar topics?
4. Other comments?
Feedback?

39. Explore More RM Trainings
• Blogger Relations – December
• Coming up in 2011:
• Communicating science TBD
• Branding TBD
• Interviewing and public speaking TBD
• LinkedIn for nonprofits TBD

40. In the
Beginning