I started my career on the other side of the pitch, as a journalist at Kompas.com. The difference between the emails that got a reply and the ones that got deleted was rarely the story. It was the packaging.
The inbox test
A reporter opens your email with one question in mind: can I use this, today, with the information I already have? If the answer isn’t obvious in the first two sentences, the pitch is already gone.
So I write the first line as if it were the headline:
- Weak: “Hope you’re doing well! I wanted to reach out about an exciting opportunity…”
- Strong: “Indonesian banks are cutting unbanked customers from basic services. We have data on the five that just changed that.”
The second one tells the reporter what the story is, who it affects, and why it matters now. No preamble.
Make it easy to say yes
A reporter’s scarcest resource isn’t interest — it’s time. Every asset you attach is one less reason to reply with “send me more.”
Before I send anything, I check that I can answer:
- What’s the news? Not the campaign, not the partnership — the change.
- Who can say it? A named spokesperson, with a window of availability.
- What proves it? A number, a document, a case study, a photo I have rights to.
- Why now? A date, a decision, a deadline the reporter is already writing toward.
If I can’t answer all four, I don’t pitch. I go get the missing piece first.
Pitch the person, not the list
A media list is a starting point, not a strategy. I read what a reporter has written in the last month before I write a word. If your story is a sequel to their last piece, say so — that’s the strongest opening you have.
The reporters I’ve kept for years are the ones I never spammed. I send them three genuinely relevant things a year instead of thirty mediocre ones, and I tell them when I don’t have a story. That’s the whole trick. Reliability compounds.
The follow-up rule
One follow-up, 48 hours later, with something new: a fresh angle, an added data point, a shorter version of the pitch. Never a bare “just checking in.” If the second note gets no reply, I let it rest and keep the relationship intact for the next story.
A pitch is not a request for a favour. It’s an offer of something the reporter can actually use.
What I stopped doing
- BCC’ing fifty reporters and hoping one bites.
- Attaching a 4 MB press release nobody will open.
- Promising an exclusive to three outlets at once.
- Chasing a reply on a story that was never newsworthy to begin with.
Coverage isn’t the goal. The right coverage is — and the fastest way to earn it is to be useful before you need anything.