Pitch, Please: Journalists Sound Off on Media Relations

Happy Friday again, readers: it's time for the fourth installment of our Muck Rack-assisted series covering the week's reactions to pitches: good, bad, and "LOL WUT?" (Check out the previous chapters here, here, and here.) Yesterday we revealed that a certain journalist has some skewed ideas about how the PR industry works...but the writers of today's entries TOTALLY get it. First, some basic lifestyle tips: use aromatherapy while regularly replacing the top sheet on your bed: PR pitch of the day: "Battle Cellulite with Aromatherapy" — Nina Bahadur (@nbahadur) May 1, 2015 PR pitch to speak with an expert " on why you should be sleeping with a top sheet" — Amy Nelson (@AmyPioneerPress) May 1, 2015 These are not the pitches you're looking for... Of course the biggest cultural event of the past week was "Star Wars Day"--forget you, moms--and we were shocked to learn that Steve Kovach of Business Insider only received ONE related pitch: oh ffs I got a star wars day pr pitch — Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) May 1, 2015 Hell, we got at least three of them from our friends in the ad world. Cynicism in politics is a very good thing. Dave Weigel of Bloomberg is not impressed by the fact that presidential candidate Carly Fiorina has to rely on Hillary Clinton in order to make herself into a news item: Carly’s announcement video’s use of the Hillary video reminds me of those PR pitches that promise you an “expert opinion” on a news event. — daveweigel (@daveweigel) May 4, 2015 Back to (grammar) basics If we might return to Star Wars for a minute, correct is this sentence? Nope. Today's PR pitch comes from, believe I, Yoda: "Hi David, Beach body ready or not, here summer comes!" — David Hochman (@davidhochman) May 7, 2015 Your strong suit, spelling is not: Just got a PR pitch beginning "Hi Financil Times". #fail on so many levels — Laura Noonan (@LauraNoonanFT) May 6, 2015 Simplicity is a virtue via tech writer Zach Miners: This was the first sentence in a PR pitch to me. Umm, WHAT did I just read pic.twitter.com/m71g3EkDPl — Zach miners (@zachminers) May 6, 2015 Next, in creative language from Alastair Coote (who does NOT cover men's fashion for The New York Times): Received a PR pitch for smart socks which contains the phrase "full skinny on the socks" and boy, I need better email filters. — Alastair Coote (@_alastair) May 1, 2015 Automation is not always your friend--and neither is Brittney Helmrich of Business News Daily: Got an email in which the sender forgot to fill in my name. All it says is "Dear," & now I'm not sure if it's a PR pitch or a love letter. — Brittney (@brittneyplz) May 7, 2015 Marina Khidekel of Cosmopolitan reminds us that it might be better to use no name than to use the wrong name --especially when using such a not-at-all-desperate subject line: We thought that one would win a prize for most blatant LOOK AT ME pitch, but this one takes the coke-dusted cake: Great PR pitch. pic.twitter.com/oFeFUsTd14 — Joe Keohane (@JoeKeohane) May 6, 2015 Here's a pitch that is truly a work of art. How do you manage to tie your client to Taylor Swift? By degrees: just received a PR pitch that describes Jaimie King as “actress & carrier of Taylor Swift’s godchild" — Anne Helen Petersen (@annehelen) May 1, 2015 Anne Helen Petersen may be obsessed with celebrity gossip, but she doesn't actually cover it--so we're not sure we can call this a successful pitch. Still, that sentence... Next, a little inside baseball talk between People writers on who will respond to a pitch: Sending PR pitches back and forth with @MorganGibson w/underlying message: "Ugh, you can do this if you want but get it out of my face." — Amanda M. Steiner (@amandamichl) May 5, 2015 On that note, Harry McCracken of Fast Company has a good question: How long until some genius invents a bot which can automatically judge PR pitches sent to journalists and politely turn down most of them? — Harry McCracken (@harrymccracken) May 5, 2015 The answer, of course, is "never gonna happen." But we can dream. Finally, a bit of honesty via Owen Williams of The Next Web: I wish there was a way to just disable PR pitches in my email for a day — Owen Williams (@ow) May 6, 2015 Don't we sometimes wish there were a way to avoid sending those pitches for a day, too? Until next week...

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Pitch, Please: Journalists Sound Off on Media Relations

This week's best responses...to PR pitches.

Patrick Coffee

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