In an update to the groundbreaking 2015 Talking Biz News article “The pros/cons of pitching biz reporters through social media,” we again asked several reporters their opinion on receiving pitches via social media.
Back in ‘15, X was Twitter and TikTok didn’t exist. Instagram had just launched Boomerang, and Facebook had enabled GIFs. Snapchat was the new kid on the block. LinkedIn was a professional networking platform, as opposed to today’s “everything app” where you can discuss your shy-bladder syndrome, post holiday pictures, or DM one’s crush.
Today’s environment is no less dynamic and my hypothesis has only incrementally shifted from its 2015 iteration. Namely, that reporters still preferred email pitches, but were occasionally using LinkedIn and X to respond to PRs.
I was mostly right. According to Muck Rack’s State of Journalism 2024 report, 83% of journalists prefer to be pitched via email (compared to 92% in the 2023 report).
I also knew from experience that at least some reporters were open to social media pitches. Maybe it was my algorithm, but based on what I was seeing on X and LinkedIn, reporters were even actively requesting sources.
Even the folks we spoke to for this piece who preferred email pitchers still acknowledged that they have found pitches via social media to be helpful.
Malique Morris, the direct-to-consumer correspondent at The Business of Fashion, doesn’t mind when PRs reach out via social media. But he still wants relevant pitches.
“I routinely receive pitches from PR reps and brands on LinkedIn and Twitter, although I don’t respond to most of them. What usually catches my attention is when the person is familiar with my work and can articulate how the company they’re pitching fits within my beat, potentially fills a gap in my coverage or is particularly keen on setting up an intro call with no expectations of coverage in the short term.”
Cloey Callahan, previously a senior reporter covering the workforce, shared that she uses social media for quick sourcing needs, but still prefers email.
I use social media a lot to put out last-minute requests when I need sources in a pinch, or feel inundated and am looking for some sources to come to me. From there, I am happy to chat over social to coordinate call times and things like that. However, if someone pitches me for the first time over X or LinkedIn, it’s not my favorite. My email is my home base and where everything is. I almost use it as a search tool. So if we connected on social and that’s it, then it’s hard for me to quickly find this person again. I talk to so many people every week so ideally I want an intro email so everything is there. So happy to connect initially on social, but let’s move it to email ASAP.
A reporter at a global news outlet noted a shift in how she uses social media for sourcing.
“It’s funny how things change because now I’m the opposite (check Twitter the least, and check LinkedIn the most!) — I use Instagram and TikTok for sourcing, though, but don’t really get many pitches on those platforms and prefer it that way because it’s just too much to keep track of. Email is still the best!”
Katie Kuehner-Hebert, an award-winning business journalist who has written for publications such as Independent Banker, Electrical Contractor and Chief Executive, noted that corporate email addresses can often verify professional credentials in a manner that social media–and social payments – lack.
“PR professionals (or other professionals pitching themselves directly) should be as forthcoming as possible about their personal background and also their clients’ backgrounds, perhaps including all the pertinent contact information (phone number, links to website, headquarters location, etc.) about their PR company and their clients’ company. This helps me to better determine if the PR person is legitimate or not, and not a fraudster impersonating a PR professional or another professional just to gain access to the journalist’s own contact information.
One time a person from a foreign company solicited my services for ghostwriting, letting me know they could wire me some of my fee upfront and asked me for my bank information. As a writer for several banking publications, I immediately recognized this could be a scam and so I tested them: I asked for them to send me money via Venmo. They immediately sent a screenshot that Venmo was not available in their country, so I said they could just mail me a check instead, without giving them my address — I just wanted to see how they would react. They did not respond after that.”
Joe Adinolfi, a markets reporter at MarketWatch, who in 2015 was an “absolutely not” response, has warmed up to the idea of pitches via social media…a little.
“Nothing much about getting pitched on social media has changed for me. I definitely still prefer email. But I’ve received a few productive pitches over LinkedIn recently.
Based on the feedback, email is still the way to go. But PR pros shouldn’t rule out a social media pitch. Especially as the communication within each social media platform changes. Just like any pitch effort, researching each reporter before pitching them is a good way to figure out if they’re open to a pitch via social media. Some of them will even go on-the-record to Talking Biz News about it, so no excuses…
Bill C. Smith is a senior vice president at The Bliss Group in New York.
