A look into the media landscape: Summer pitching & deskside appointments

With recent shifts in the media landscape, there may be a few questions floating around about which pitching efforts are still effective. Here is what journalists are saying via Substack.

Q: Is summer a dead zone for pitching?
A: No, definitely not! Journalists are still busy pumping out articles left and right and are heavily relying on pitches. Pitching serves as a valuable source for journalists when writing a piece. Best time to send your pitches? Tuesday through Thursday, avoid Mondays and Fridays.

Q: Are journalists open to deskside appointments anymore?
A: It’s more difficult than ever to schedule desksides – especially in-person. Journalists are having a harder time justifying the time they’ll spend on these and also that they are busier than ever because of the major staffing cuts within newsrooms. Freelancers are having to write double the amount of articles they used to in order to make ends meet. This means there is less time available to dedicate to meetings – even 20-30 minutes. It was also noted that most desksides could have been an email pitch. What’s the recommended alternative? It was suggested to focus more time on crafting meaningful, customized pitches to a few journalists you’re really looking to impress.