As a journalist, I get pitched many products and services using buzzwords, jargon, and outright made-up words. I think it’s time that some of my marketing friends learned the importance of speaking like a human being and avoiding hyperbole. Let’s jump into it.

What Makes This Newsworthy

The fastest way to lose my attention is to start the pitch by following a trend. Your AI-powered dinner recommendation generator is neither groundbreaking nor newsworthy. Most of the words in that description mean very little together and even less on their own. AI is largely useless for most people and an outright assault against working creative professionals, you’ll need to really show that it is t before that pitch gets a response.

Newsworthy pitches will always provide a real solution to a real problem. “A local community group wins a grant from a large camera company to build a photography school for local teens,” tells me that a need was met for an easily identified problem, and the players involved. Bringing it closer to home, “a new generative AI tool helps you place your subject on the moon,” neither solves a problem anyone actually has, nor will it entice a professional to try your product.

Keep it Short and Sweet

You’re busy. I’m busy. And that poor journalist who just started and has to grind out 20 posts per day is burnt out. Keep it to a couple of paragraphs and give them the option of learning more moving on. Don’t bury a full press release in three different formats between your pitch and sign off.

Lastly, make sure that all necessary assets are linked somewhere in your email. If you’ve invested in product photography, be sure that it includes lifestyle photos. We are also fighting for our readers’ attention; a white background product shot isn’t going to cut it.

Wrapping up

The next time you’re thinking about sending out that press release, take a little time and read it to yourself. Does it sound like a human wrote this to get the attention of another? If not, scrap it. If you won’t read it, I certainly won’t.

By no means is this a definitive guide on getting your pitch seen by a journalist, but we gripe about it constantly. It’s annoying and really slows the process down, but a few tweaks will make all of us happy. And maybe, it’ll get your press release the attention you want.