What Reporters Want from PR Pitches

Press releases are what most journalists (72%) prefer to receive from PR professionals, Cision’s latest “State of the Media Report” finds. When asked to describe the perfect PR pitch, relevance was the factor that reporters cited most often.

In the PR software company’s 15^th annual survey of more than 3,000 media professionals around the world, most journalists also want to receive direct pitches, story exclusives, original research and access to industry experts. Just 2% wish to receive telephone pitches. A majority of reporters surveyed, 64%, said PR pros should only follow up once after making a pitch. 

Some 87% of reporters use the multimedia assets (images, data visualizations, videos, etc.) that PR pros include with their pitches. 

To build strong media relationships, PR practitioners need to understand the challenges that journalists face. Among reporters surveyed, 42% said their biggest challenge is maintaining credibility as a trusted news source and combating accusations of fake news. 

Other challenges journalists face include a lack of staffing and resources, declining circulation and falling ad revenue. Reporters also cite decreased website traffic due to changes in Google’s algorithms.

Despite industry buzz about artificial intelligence, fewer than half of the journalists who responded to Cision’s survey said they use AI regularly. Some 26% cited the emergence of artificial intelligence as a top challenge for their industry.

A third of the reporters surveyed said that competing with online misinformation is a top challenge, while 22% named politicization of the press. Social media clicks and shares often seem to take precedence over keeping the public informed, the reporters said. Journalists also find themselves competing with content created by advertisers