Member-only story
Here’s something I’ve noticed.
The more I like the work of a particular reporter, the more I freaking hate pitching them stories for the first time.
That’s because journalists are often suspicious of random people who call them with an agenda — they want to know WHY you think something is an issue, why a campaign actually solves it, where you’re getting the money for the campaign, how you know the people that you’re working with.
They want to know about power.
Being super attuned to power, is deeply necessary (and lots of the times talking to journalists helps me see flaws in my plan or campaign).
But getting as many people as possible up to date on your campaign is a time and energy consuming process.
If you knew that they would end up writing your story, that suspicion is TOTALLY worth it — but you’re competing not only with your own time limitations, but the time limitations of the reporter, their editor, and the priorities and audience size of that publication. There’s no guarantee that your story will go anywhere — no matter how much time you put into crafting it.
Here’s something else: local news is in a deep funding crisis.
