When pitching a brand new story to the media, you want to know: what is the best method to contact those key reporters and editors? You will inevitably hear from more and more journalists that they work best through email. They are busy people under constant deadlines, and more often than not they don’t have time to answer a phone call. And oh my goodness, do not even think about calling a producer ten minutes before the 5 p.m. newscast starts or a newspaper reporter working with a Thursday or Friday afternoon deadline.
Even though at the moment it seems that email is king, our publicists always pick up the phone and call reporters to try and make that initial contact. By doing that, we have created personal connections with reporters and built solid relationships that last beyond any one story. It’s a little bit like being back in college, when all the professors told you that the best way to get on their good side was to talk in class.
You could lose out on a number of potential bookings as you wait for someone to return an email. Maybe your contact doesn’t work at the station anymore, is covering a different beat, or is on a leave of absence and has someone else covering for them. It’s often hard to find out this information without picking up the phone.
I used to be a morning TV producer, and every day when I got into work there would be more than 100 new emails sitting in my inbox. Most of the time I didn’t have time to go through them all, so if it didn’t look immediate or important to my next show … delete! That’s why a good publicist will get on the phone and make sure a media contact received emailed information. If not, no problem. You can just re-send it while on the phone so it will be at the top of their inbox and fresh on their mind.
To sum up, if you’re asking yourself whether you should or shouldn’t call the media, the answer is always to call. Just remember: don’t call on deadlines, be courteous of the reporter’s time, and keep your pitch short and to the point.
