Think locally when pitching globally

​Birmingham, Ala. and New Delhi, India are two places you wouldn’t think have anything in common. But lately, we’ve been pitching like it’s our job (read: it is our job) and I’ve been corresponding with hyper-local reporters across the United States and international reporters in India. Through this firestorm of media pitching, I learned that some of the basic rules of media research apply when pitching media anywhere in the world.

Take a lesson in geography

Google Maps can be your best friend when pitching internationally and hyper-locally. In local markets 10 miles can mean the difference between pitching newspaper A versus newspaper B. Internationally, know that setting up a meeting between someone on the ground in New Delhi with a reporter in Mumbai, while both in India, is going to be nearly impossible.

Be aware of the news

Know what current events potentially could dominate the news cycle. You’re wasting your time pitching a story to a local reporter about frozen yogurt when thousands of people are being evacuated due to major flooding.

Time zones

Sending a reporter an email at 3 a.m. almost guarantees that your email will go unread. Be cognizant of how time zones will affect when you hit the send button and how you start your pitch. Sending an email from Richmond at 9 a.m. that opens with ‘Good morning’ to a reporter based in London is not going to leave a favorable impression. Additionally, brief your clients on the West Coast that they may need to be available to reporters on the East Coast before they’ve had their first cup of coffee.

The bottom line is that reporters are people too, and doing research before you start pitching can help form important relationships, no matter where the reporter you’re pitching is located.