How to Pitch to Journalists During Covid-19

Here at Sunny Bird PR, we like to think we’re the experts in communicating to journalists; whether that’s a well thought out targeted email, or a straight to the point two minute phone call, we pride ourselves on getting great coverage for our clients. And what have we learnt from our years of experience in the industry, I hear you ask? It’s all in the pitch.

So, when Covid-19 hit we had to adapt to the new norm with journalists working from home, no longer could we jump on the phones and build a connection and meeting journalists are also a no-go at the moment with many still working from home.

As a result, we had to make sure our email pitches were even more on point than usual as this was the only way we could get in touch. At the start of lockdown, that dominated the media but now, it’s still being talked about, but journalists are looking for positive stories to share. If you have a story that could be seen as negative, try and add a happy ending, include that in your pitch, put a smile on the journalist’s face, and you could be on to a winner!

We’ve done some research and found some quotes from the journalists themselves who have given some advice and tips on pitching to them in this new ‘normal’ post lockdown.

Jane Hamilton – Journalist and Editor at The Sun

Jane wrote an article on what you should be doing to be sensitive to the situation but also to be successful during the pandemic:

“Should I still pitch at all? Yes, please do! Life goes on. Life WILL go back to normal (ish). In the meantime, most media outlets are looking for a balance of stories and need positives and heart-warming tales to combat the Covid-19 gloom.”

Read the full article here-

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-pitch-journalists-during-coronavirus-crisis-jane-hamilton/?trackingId=vJCAMQ7EHi7lfL9gtCmG2w%3D%3D

Angelica Malin, Editor-in-Chief at About Time Magazine

Angelica hosts #SheStartedIt podcast, here she gives lots of insight into the industry as well as discussing all things female empowerment. She says*:

 “Be personal. There has never been more of a need to be personal in your pitches. Generic press releases won’t land well and tailoring the first line of the pitch to the journalist is key. So spend time familiarising yourself with each journalist’s latest updates on social media and research the main topics that they cover.”

You may be thinking ‘but surely we’re getting back to normal and I can go back to what I was doing?’, unfortunately not. Journalists are still working from home (believe us, we’ve tried calling!) and will be for the foreseeable. They are often only contactable by email only, and you really don’t want to annoy a journalist by calling their mobile unexpectedly! So, for now, the email pitch is the best way to get yourself featured, so make sure it’s perfect!

If you’d like some help with your pitches and how to contact journalists, get in touch with the Sunny Bird PR team – hello@sunnybirdpr.com

*https://www.wavemakernorth.co.uk/how-to-pr-during-covid-19-according-to-journalists/

Clientversary: The Hampton Trust

The Sunny Bird PR team is celebrating its ‘clientversary’ with The Hampton Trust. Established in 1996, The Hampton Trust is an award-winning domestic abuse charity which delivers domestic violence perpetrator programs within the criminal justice system to reduce re-offending. The charity first approached the team with two objectives; to raise awareness of the work of The Hampton Trust in both regional and national press, educating those in the third sector industry and the wider public on their services and expertise, we’ve gone above and beyond securing 40 pieces of coverage for the charity over 12 months, reaching over 7.7 million people, with an advertising value equivalent of over £287,000!

To achieve these results , Sunny Bird PR ensured The Hampton Trust were considered experts in their field placed side-by-side with their competitors, other high profile domestic abuse charities. As well as this, we shone a light on the innovative work the charity are doing and we have made sure that the press are continually up to date with their program offerings. We are always scouring the press for reactive opportunities also, recently securing regular coverage in The Daily Express, with comments from Chantal Hughes, CEO of the Hampton Trust, on Coronation Streets coercive control story line, these pieces of coverage reached over 3.6 million people!

Here are some more examples of the work we’ve achieved for The Hampton Trust over the last 12 months:

CARA Workshop Press Visits

SBPR interviewed an attendee of one of The Hampton Trust’s CARA (Caution and Relationship Abuse) workshops and compiled a feature for the national press. This feature resulted in journalists from both Cosmopolitan Magazine and The Daily Telegraph visiting CARA workshops for themselves and compiling high-profile features in 2020, due to reach over 523,000 people.

CEO Profile

To ensure The Hampton Trust was positioned as the voice of authority in its sector, the SBPR team complied a feature on the CEO of the charity Chantal Hughes. This feature led to a series of exclusive opinion pieces running in Third Sector online, a coveted publication read by 123,000 voluntary sector workers.

Woman & Home Awards

SBPR nominated Chantal for the Woman & Home Awards, which champion women doing extraordinary things, in the ‘Changing our Country’ category. Chantal won the award in 2019, attending a photoshoot and a high-profile awards ceremony at London’s Claridge’s. This raised the profile of The Hampton Trust not only to the attendees, but to the 237,000 readers of Woman & Home Magazine.  To celebrate Chantal receiving this award SBPR complied a post event press-release, sharing the news with the regional press and achieving further coverage, which reached over 186,000 people.

Reacting to Television

The SBPR team know the importance of reactive media opportunities, and for The Hampton Trust we knew that prolific television storylines would bring domestic abuse into the public eye and into the news. Making sure we were up to date with the content of primetime soaps and dramas meant the team secured interview opportunities for Chantal in the Metro Online, the Daily Express Online and Tyla Online. These pieces of coverage reached over 4 million people, establishing The Hampton Trust as experts in the field and raising awareness of the charity as a go-to for comments on domestic abuse news for the national press.

Project White Ribbon Day

White Ribbon Day, and the 16 Days of Action is an annual event which raises awareness of domestic abuse against women. The SBPR team compiled press releases to highlight all of the work The Hampton Trust carried out during this time to raise awareness. The team also pitched Chantal as a spokesperson to target titles and broadcast media. The team’s PR activity secured 10 pieces of coverage for The Hampton Trust, including three features on the BBC South Today TV news programme, reaching over 2.7 million people.  

Regional Press

SBPR knew the importance of highlighting the work of The Hampton Trust to those who would need it the most, so the team ensured that regional press was given updates on essential news from The Hampton Trust. We secured 25 pieces of coverage for The Hampton Trust in Avon & Somerset, Hampshire, Dorset and the West Midlands, across broadcast, radio, online and print press raising awareness of the CARA workshops, the link up with the regional Police and the Hampton Trust’s ADAPT (Accredited Domestic Abuse Prevention Training) program. All of this coverage reached over 3.2 million people and would have cost over £29,000 in advertising!

We have loved working with The Hampton Trust over the last 12 months and are pleased to continue working with them in 2020.