ABSTRACT
A pitch is a strategic message that attempts to persuade an individual journalist or blogger to write the story described in the pitch. A pitch—whether an email, phone call or social media message through a website such as LinkedIn—promotes, or "pitches," a story idea. Survey research shows that journalists and bloggers will accept follow-up calls about well-written, appropriate, exclusive pitches. Some journalists and bloggers will consider newsworthy story ideas over the phone—but surveys show that most strongly opposes phone pitches. Telephone pitches work best when the recipient and the public relations practitioner know and trust each other. Like email pitches and letter pitches, telephone pitches generally are exclusive offers. Research shows that the top four things journalists want to see in a pitch are clear relevance to the journalist's interests and publishing history, an understanding of the journalist's medium, compelling information and assured connections to key sources.
