As a Digital PR specialist, getting the unfiltered truth about your work from a seasoned journalist is a rarity. It’s even rarer to have one on your team AND get a chance to interview them.
Meet Sam Forrester. Before joining us as Content Manager, Sam spent 15 years at Reach PLC as a Senior Reporter, Assistant News Editor, and Digital Editor for Somerset Live, Bristol Live, Gloucester Live, and Bath Live. He’s seen it all: the good, the bad, and the ‘deleted without opening’ pitches.
Struggling to get your pitch read? Or do you have high open rates but can’t seem to get a link? We sat down with him to get the insider’s view on the regional newsroom: how localised data, regional KPIs, and the hyperlocal lens can be the secret weapon for Digital PRs to cut through the noise in 2026.
How to Pitch a Journalist – Key Takeaways
- KPIs are king – Every journalist is chasing a daily page view target. If your pitch doesn’t look like it will generate clicks (specifically from Facebook), it’s headed for the bin.
- Before sending, ask yourself: “Would someone in a local community group comment on or share this?” If the answer is no, the reporter won’t touch it.
- You don’t need 120 versions of a press release. Just provide the specific local data point in your pitch and suggest how a trainee reporter could flesh it out with a local case study.
- If your story helps a journalist hit their traffic targets, they view a backlink as a fair thank you for the content.
- Journalists often miss the first email. Follow up once or twice after a few days; this proves there’s a human behind the pitch, but stop after three.
- Newsrooms have almost zero photography budget. High-quality, non-cheesy images or even a simple Canva graphic are massive time-savers for editors.
The Art of the PR Pitch – How to pitch a story to an editor
Let’s start with the bread and butter of the industry: the pitch itself. We’re going to look at the nuts and bolts of how to pitch a journalist. Including everything from what makes a journalist actually click open versus delete and the psychology of a subject line, to the logistics of pasting content, links, and attachments.
Subject lines
Q: What actually works?
A: “One of the biggest concerns for reporters in modern newsrooms is how many unique page views a story will generate. Every newsroom I’ve been in since the advent of the Newsroom 2.0 model has had KPIs at the forefront of its thinking. Reporters have always had to pitch stories to their news editors, even going back as far as the print-only days. But now, with daily page view targets for the sites they work for (and their own individual targets), a reporter will look at any potential story or pitch and think: ‘Will this help me achieve my page view target?’
When making this assessment, they’re not only considering the potential story on its own merit, but also how shareable it is. This is because the majority of the traffic generated for local news sites is driven by social media, particularly Facebook. They’ll ask themselves:
- Will this be shared?
- Will people comment?”
Q: Do you prefer more literal or “clickbaity” hooks?
A: “Clickbait is something that worked for a very short time. However, modern audiences smartened up pretty quickly and are generally turned off by these types of hooks, especially if the article doesn’t match the headline or overpromises.
The key lies somewhere in the middle. Of course, the angle still has to be interesting or exciting enough to warrant attention, but it has to be backed up. Let’s say you have a data-driven pitch that reveals 27% of drivers in Bristol have damaged their cars because of potholes. You don’t even have to dress up that sentence with a bombastic headline. You can just tell that it’s likely to get people talking when you share it on socials. That sentence alone is the ‘acid test’ for a reporter.
It already resonates because people will share it and say, ‘This happened to me!’ or ‘Why don’t the council fix them?’ The best subject lines prove the audience will care.”
Stories
Q: How do you know which type of journalist you should pitch and with what types of stories?
A: “In my experience, modern digital newsrooms on a local level don’t really have specialist journalists, except for court reporters. It’s also dependent on the patch. So, whether you have a health story, a finance story, or an education story, if they’re all relevant to Bath, for example, you should target the Bath reporter. As for the types of stories, it comes down to what the audience will care about.”
This isn’t true on a national level, where there are specialist editors and reporters. In this case, it’s a simple matter of matching the content of your pitch to that specialism, e.g., if you have a health story, search for the Daily Mirror’s health correspondent.
The follow-up
Q: Do you mind receiving them? What is the ideal timeframe after the initial pitch? What is your break point for follow-ups? Is it one, two, or does the third email land the sender on your blocked list?
A: “No, I never minded receiving follow-up emails. To our shame, journalists often don’t respond to whether we like the story or not. We’d either use it or wouldn’t. Personally, I’d respond to follow-ups far more often than the original email because it would remind me that an actual person sent it! I’d recommend leaving a few days between them. After three, I’d say you might be chasing a lost cause, unfortunately.
Format preferences
Q: How did you like to receive comments and press releases – Pasted directly in the email body or sent via a Google Drive link with assets?
A: “Either is usually fine, and most senders do both anyway. Belt and braces!”
Imagery
Q: How do you feel when a pitch includes Unsplash or Pexels images? Is it a helpful time-saver, or does it make the story feel cheap or unoriginal?
A: “Photography is a scant resource in modern newsrooms. When I started, my paper had a chief photographer, three junior photographers, plus freelancers. Now, on a local level, there might be one freelancer whom you’d have to justify the cost of using.
Mostly, we’d rely on send-ins or create a Canva image with a Google Street View and a talking head inset, or the reporter might go out to take a photo. Other than that, we’d probably be using Unsplash, Pixels, or Getty anyway. So images can be really helpful for a reporter, as long as they’re not too stocky (people jumping in the air, etc).”
The perfect package
Q: What is the ideal combination of email, pitch, and content to secure both coverage and a backlink? For instance, what is the absolute maximum word count for a pitch before you stop reading?
A: “In print, we were always limited by page design, so a lead story would be 450 words maximum. As someone who was around in those days, I still think that is enough to tell a good story and keep it tight. But, strictly speaking, there isn’t a maximum word count these days, because reporters aren’t bound by those restrictions anymore.
Having articles be on the longer side can actually be a good thing. When they’re published, they’re broken up by on-page ads, plus other embeddable content like images or polls. So if it’s too short, it could end up looking rubbish on the page. On the other hand, you don’t really want 800 words of waffle. As long as the content is interesting, you can have it be pretty long!”
Pitch personalisation
Q: What’s the best way to personalise a pitch in your opinion? And how much detail about the journalist would you suggest including?
A: “You don’t want to be overly familiar or disingenuous. But using their name and referencing any of their previous stories that might be relevant to your pitch are good ideas.”
The CTA
Q: If a PR explicitly asks for a backlink, does that hurt their chances, or do you appreciate the transparency? Does having additional assets, such as data visualisations or interactives, increase the likelihood of coverage or the ability to credit the source with a backlink?
A: “No, if the story is good enough, then asking for a backlink won’t matter and wouldn’t turn me off at all. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that if a Digital PR pitched me a story that got me a few thousand unique page views and helped with my targets, then including a backlink would be the least I could do in return.”
Navigating the Regional Landscape
Pitching to a national desk is one thing, but winning over a regional newsroom is a different beast entirely. In this section, we’re diving into the specific data types that local editors crave and how to pivot a single story to make it feel ‘homegrown’ across multiple cities.
Regional story pitches
Q: Do you have any tips for pitching data-led stories to regional newsrooms that, from our experience recently, seem more hesitant to cover stories than nationals?
A: “Localise it as much as you can, or suggest ways in which the reporter could localise the story. If we use the pothole example from earlier, with national statistics, it’s still interesting, but it resonates slightly less on a local level.
I’ve never worked in Digital PR, but I imagine that it’s not time-efficient to take a story based on national statistics and write 120 different regional versions of it. But if you have those specific figures, point them out to the journalist when you make contact. They can then rework the article slightly to make it more relevant to their audience, while retaining the essence of what you’re pitching.
In addition, think of how they could follow it up. It often surprises digital PRs to learn that modern local newsrooms have A LOT of trainees. They’re fantastic, hard-working people, but for many, it’s their first job after uni. Part of my role was to act as a mentor and help teach them how to write a story that resonates. If you were pitching to me, there’s no way I’d expect you to know where the worst potholes are in my town, but the people on the ground do.
You could suggest to a reporter that they go out and take photos or interview people who live on the really badly affected roads. Suddenly, you’ve got a great local story (“we spoke to residents on the most pothole-stricken road in Cheltenham”) with your pitch and data as its foundation. And that’s great for you and your clients because with that fleshing out, it’s likely to get more readers, meaning more backlink visibility.
In short: make the headline and intro as relevant as you can to the geographical area you’re pitching to.”
Data types
Q: What specific kinds of data resonate most with regional journalists right now?
A: “I think anything to do with the cost of living or modern social issues. This includes topics such as hospital waiting times, employment rates, education, crime, and housing, for example.”
Newsroom size
Q: How do smaller newsrooms differ from larger ones, and how should PRs adjust their approach?
A: “They have fewer resources but lofty page view targets all the same, so they’re only going to be focusing on writing stories they know will perform well to help them hit their KPIs and weeding out anything they don’t think is worth the time. If I worked in Digital PR and I was pitching to a smaller newsroom, I would lean on this heavily and say that I think my pitch would really resonate with their Facebook audience and drive traffic to their site. Make it appealing to them, and they will usually cover it.”
Relationship Goals and Red Flags
Now let’s get personal. In this section, we’re pulling back the curtain on the PR-Journalist dynamic to find out what builds a lasting partnership, what triggers an immediate ‘red flag,’ and, honestly, what journalists really think of us.
PR red flags
Q: What are the biggest warning signs, or ‘red flags’ in a pitch that lead to an immediate delete?
A: “As mentioned before, anything clickbaity, such as ‘The shocking statistics…’ ‘You won’t believe this, that or the other’ tends to be a huge red flag.”
Beyond the transaction
Q: What’s the most effective way to build a lasting relationship with a journalist? Is it solely based on the quality of the “offer”?
A: “If digital PRs can provide journalists with stories that help them achieve their page view targets, I honestly think we’re not too far from the point where the two industries will be best friends. If digital PRs can demonstrate to journalists that they understand what drives them and then help them achieve it, you’ll have a friend for life. It only takes one effective story, and you’re in. If I were given something that contributed to my page view target, I’d be very eager to see what the digital PR had coming next.”
The brutal truth
Q: What do journalists actually think about PRs? 👀 😂
A: “In my experience, I’ve always found PRs to be a very useful resource and have developed working relationships with a lot of them. I think that with the right stories and a new understanding of how journalists are judged internally on KPIs, any relationship a PR is trying to form with them will only be more successful!”
Ethics, AI & The Future of Media
In the final part of our Q&A on how to pitch a journalist, it’s time to look at the big picture and the robots in the room. We’re exploring how AI is reshaping our workflows, the long-term survival of regional titles, and the age-old question of whether we can really trust the experts who appear in inboxes.
The AI evolution
Q: How will AI tools change content generation and pitching for both sides?
A: “I left journalism just as AI-assisted reporters were becoming a thing. However, I think generative AI is a tremendous resource for journalists because it allows them to increase the volume of stories they write and helps them with story ideas. They obviously have to be wary of hallucinations and anything that doesn’t pass muster. Fact-checking is still vital, and always will be, but AI is still a hugely helpful tool.
I pasted a story by The Mirror about the Iran war into ChatGPT and asked it how I could make the story relevant to Somerset Live, for example. Here’s what it came up with:
Local military links
- Mention nearby bases such as RNAS Yeovilton and whether UK forces could be placed on heightened alert.
- Include reaction or context from the Royal Navy, which operates helicopters from Yeovilton.
- Reference local defence industry connections, such as Leonardo Helicopters, which builds aircraft used by UK forces.
Energy bills and cost of living
- Localise the oil crisis angle: explain how disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could push up fuel and heating costs for Somerset households.
- Use a local angle like: “Drivers in Somerset could see petrol prices rise again if oil remains above $100 a barrel.”
Travel impact for residents
- Add a line about Somerset holidaymakers travelling to the Middle East or connecting through Gulf hubs such as Dubai.
- Mention potential flight disruption via Bristol Airport.
Local expert reaction
- Include commentary from academics at the University of Exeter or defence analysts explaining the conflict.
- Quote local MPs on UK security concerns.
Community angle
- Speak to Somerset residents with family in the Middle East or those working in the energy/shipping sectors.
- Mention local charities supporting civilians affected by the conflict.
Localised headline examples
A Somerset Live version might look like:
- Iran conflict could push up fuel prices for Somerset drivers as war fears grow
- What the Iran war could mean for Somerset — from petrol prices to military bases
- Security fears rise as Iran conflict escalates — what it means for Somerset
While global news happens, the process of localising it is what matters.
Try this prompt:‘I have this national story about hospital waiting times with national statistics at its core. Can you suggest five ways to make this relevant to the Manchester Evening News and come up with 5 potential headlines?’”
Expert vetting
Q: Were “fake experts” a thing before AI? How much vetting actually happens behind the scenes? What is your ‘red flag’ that makes you stop and think, ‘Wait, is this person even real?
A: “This isn’t something I really encountered during my time. Although many years ago, we did carry a print story featuring a war veteran who, it later turned out, was a complete fantasist. He bought medals from auctions and said he served in the armed forces. It wasn’t until his daughter came forward to tell us that we realised!
Journalists will always seek to verify anyone offering expert comment on an issue. Usually, a few searches will put you on the right track. But as far as AI experts go, I’m afraid I’m not sure what media groups look for in terms of red flags, because this phenomenon only really started after I left.”
Publication survival
Q: With traffic declining, how can big regional publications adapt to survive in the long term?
A: “This is something everyone was trying to figure out throughout my career in Newsroom 2.0, and I don’t think anyone ever arrived at a concrete answer. I was always an advocate of the hyperlocal approach. I’d bristle when we were asked to use one of our Facebook slots for a non-regional story, because I knew it would annoy our readers, and any short-term traffic we gained would be overshadowed by the gradual erosion of long-term trust and our audience’s perception of us – leading to a dip in traffic in the long run. I believed that by focusing on hyperlocal content, we could build a solid audience of people who trusted us.
In my experience at a decent-sized regional publication, I think long-term SEO is a major missed opportunity. Everything was always reactive because we approached our monthly target on a day-by-day basis, asking “how can we get 250,000 hits today?”, for example. There was never too much time for long-term planning, at least that’s how it felt to me. I also think there is a lack of SEO expertise in modern newsrooms. We did a lot of trending stuff like live blogging the Great British Bake Off and things like that, but I think if modern journalists became more au fait with keyword research tools, they could enable themselves to write some evergreen local content that would provide a really strong backbone to build everything else off of and give themselves some breathing room – especially on slower days.”
Conclusion: How to pitch a journalist in 2026
Mastering how to pitch a journalist at a major publisher like Reach PLC isn’t about luck; it’s about alignment. As Sam highlights, the modern newsroom is driven by KPIs, page views, and social shareability.
To ensure your next pitch doesn’t end up in the bin, remember these three golden rules:
- Prioritise the social test: If a story won’t spark a conversation on Facebook, a regional editor most likely won’t give it the green light.
- Think local, act fast: Provide the specific local data points for a journalist’s patch, so the reporter doesn’t have to go digging.
- Be a resource, not a pest: Follow up to show you’re human, provide high-quality imagery to save them time, and don’t be afraid to ask for that backlink; if the content is good, it’s a fair trade.
By shifting your mindset from getting coverage to helping a journalist hit their targets, you’ll find that your pitches move from the deleted folder to the front page.
