Best time of the day to pitch a journalist
By Editor on Aug 9, 2007 in mediarelations
Often as PR professionals, we wonder when is the best time of the day to pick up the phone and pitch a story to a journalist. Getting a journalist at the right time increases our chances of getting a successful pitch. You might not want to catch a journalist when he/she is interviewing someone, writing a story, or running around in the field. But if you caught him/ her at a good time when he/she is in an open frame of mind and willing to listen to ideas, you can explain properly what you have in mind.
This is a guest post by Ajay Jain, a journalist who has written for publications such as The Financial Express, Business Standard, and Outlook Business on various subjects including business, sports, travel, youth, environment, technology and current affairs. He also blogs at Tech Gazing and Green Dioxide.
He explains here how a day goes for journalists and what time of the day PR people should contact them to get maximum attention from them.
Read on…
If you are never sure when to pitch to a journalist for your client’s story, take a tip from the birds: catch the worm early.
Because the best window of opportunity a journalist offers is between 10 and 11 in the morning. Earlier than this, and you run the risk of being asked to come over to help with the household chores. And no journalist can say what the day will be like after 11am.
It is this late morning hour when journalists are usually most relaxed. They hit the road after that, often because a PR professional like you may have sent an invitation for a press conference. After leaving home, and usually till around 4pm is the time for attending conferences, conducting interviews, or being on the phone. Barging in can be tricky – you may not get the desired attention and the story may just get routine treatment. Around 4 – 4.30pm in the evening is also not a bad time. It is that buffer zone between getting all the dope for the stories and getting down to writing. Between 5 – 7pm is the time to call if you are in a suicidal mood. Not only is it time to write, but also when panic buttons are being pressed to arrange for what is missing for the stories. Unless you have a front page exclusive to offer in which case all sins can be forgiven, avoid it. Calling in the morning has the advantage of also helping the reporter plan the day. Nothing will cheer him or her up more than an exclusive landing in the lap in the early hours itself. It will also mean a wee-bit of a soft corner for you in the future because the reporter earns the stripes of the day not by attending your press conference or by punching in your release, but with the exclusives filed. Of course, this also means you should have worked everything out with your client the previous day, ready to make the call at 10am. What does your experience say?
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On Aug 10, 2007, Janani said:
a) Hmm, I say, why do you bother calling?! Most active journalists check email at least four times a day, and more frequently if it’s a light day. By emailing instead of calling, you are less likely to press any wrong buttons (unless of course you are very unlucky and your email lands right next to a bad review or rework order from the editor — the possibility of which is less than catching the journo at an inopportune time on the phone!)
b) That said, this is not something you should be worrying about at all. If the journalist is in a press conference or interview, it’s her responsibility to shut that phone up — put it off or in silent mode! So, when she doesn’t pick it up, you automatically know it’s a bad time
Yes, I am a journalist. I don’t attend press conferences, but I do conduct interviews — a lot! But you can call me any time between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on phone — just that I won’t pick it up if the time is not right to talk to you.
But I ALWAYS prefer when people email me — all my PR friends know that their emails do beget very prompt replies!
On Aug 10, 2007, hh said:
Hi Janani, thanks for this.Yes I agree with you. Emailing could be another great way. Personally I would prefer emailing and then picking up the phone if I need to. Then there are some of our media friends who seem to be not comfortable with the idea of emails. They prefer the ‘talk me into it’ method.
On Aug 10, 2007, Anonymous said:
No time works with them. Its either ‘pl call us after half an hour”, or “send us another mail ” and believe me umpteen email ids would make you dizzy. Not to be blamed. They are chocked. Better luck to us next time.
gita Shankar
On Aug 10, 2007, Ajay Jain said:
The idea is to catch journalists when they are not distracted by other things. And this vary day-t–day. Its not that they don’t take calls other times of the day; many even respond in the middle of conferences.
And if they are on the move, tough to check mails. (Janani, I noticed you work from home, so its easier for you to check your mails. I do too, and check every half hour) One could point out to mobiles being email-savvy, but except a few smart phones, they are always a pain to use except for urgent work.
And if you are calling the right journalist for the right story, you can count on their immediate attention unless he or she is genuinely busy. When you call, if in two sentences the pitch is not clear, you may lose out on their attention.