What journalists really think about bad PR pitches
Peter Kafka, a senior editor at The Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital, recently sent out this tweet.
Dear Nirvanix: Congrats on the big C round, and your “continuing momentum”. But I don’t know what you do. Also, my name is not Michael.
It got us thinking about bad PR pitches. Because if there’s one thing journalists hate the most, it’s the bad pitches they receive from well-meaning PR folks.
There’s the pitch that starts off with “Dear Jane” when your name is Susan (and clearly stated in your email address). Or how about the one where the name of your publication is spelled wrong? Then there’s the pitch sent your way that has absolutely nothing to do with the beat you cover. And appears in your inbox five times.
When you work in a newsroom, it’s common to hear editors and reporters complain about all the bad PR pitches they get. Now, the complaints have gone to Twitter.
We did a search of Muck Rack Pro (free for journalists, subscription-based for communications PRs) using the term “PR pitches” and got some great responses.
Below are some of our favorites. And PR folks, take note. If you do the following, it’s likely your pitch will be sent to the trash almost immediately.
Tempted to do a special day where I have to blog ALL the terrible PR pitches. EVERY ONE.
— Rob Beschizza (@Beschizza) April 18, 2012
Dana Hull of the San Jose Mercury News
earth day pitches from pr firms = delete.
— Dana Hull (@danahull) April 19, 2012
Jennifer Wilson of the Toronto Star
Today I have gotten PR pitches addressed to John, Julie, Jessica and Jeffrey #delete
— Jennifer Wilson (@jenwilsonTO) April 4, 2012
Don’t send PR pitches from an AOL or Hotmail account. I mean, really.
— Nick Mediati (@dtnick) April 5, 2012
Catherine Rampell of The New York Times
PSA for the world’s PR people: Please stop calling me. E-mail pitches instead. If you don’t hear back from me, I’m probably not interested.
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) March 27, 2012
Dan Zak of the Washington Post
Dear publicists: Do not begin a PR pitch with “Let’s face it.” In fact, do not begin PR pitches at all.
— Dan Zak (@MrDanZak) March 27, 2012
The worst PR pitches I get are the ones that try to provide a ready-made spin for me. I don’t need spins — just info.
— Harry McCracken (@harrymccracken) March 15, 2012
Of course, there are many PR folks who do an amazing job. Unfortunately, when that happens, it’s less likely to make it to a tweet.
Journalists, what are some of the worst PR pitches you’ve gotten? Tweet them our way and we’ll include them in this list. PR folks, do you have any horror stories about dealing with journalists? Tell us about those as well!
Don’t forget to include #muckedup, #muckrack or @muckrack in your tweets so we can see them!
— EZ
