Hi,
I have this conversation with founders more than almost any other.
They've got something happening in their business. A new hire, a product update, a milestone they've worked toward for years, and they want to get press. They ask me to help them get it, and I tell them upfront that it probably won’t work.
They ask why.
And the honest answer, almost every time, is this: it’s not news.
Not to a reporter, anyway.
News has a specific definition, and it's probably not the same definition you're using. Reporters aren't looking for things that are important to you. They're looking for things that are important to their readers. Those two lists overlap a lot less than most people think.
So before you pitch anything (or ask me to help you pitch it), run it through this test.
These feel like news. They're usually not.
🚫 "We just launched a new product/feature/service." Unless you're Apple or you're solving a problem that affects millions of people right now, a launch is not news. It's marketing. Reporters know the difference.
🚫 "We just hit [insert milestone]." Revenue milestones, subscriber counts, and employee numbers matter — to you and your investors. They do not, on their own, give a reporter a story to tell their readers.
🚫 "We're doing something no one has done before." Maybe. But "first" only matters to journalists if the category matters to their readers. Being the first to do something in a niche your audience has never heard of is not a story. It's a footnote.
🚫 "Our CEO has a really interesting backstory." Profile pieces do still happen, but they're competitive and editor-assigned. A cold pitch saying "our founder is fascinating" will almost never land one.
🚫 "We have an opinion about [trend]." Just having an opinion is not news. Hard stop.
These actually work.
✅ Your data tells a story readers don't already know. Do you have proprietary data, from your customers, your platform, or your research that reveals something surprising about your industry? That's genuinely valuable to journalists. They can use it. They can cite you. More than getting them to respond to a pitch, it will get them to call you back later when they need help.
✅ Something actually changed — and it affects people beyond your company. A real pivot. A significant partnership. A response to something happening in your industry. The bar is: would a stranger who doesn't know your company care? If yes, you might have something.
✅ Your milestone is a signal of something bigger. If you just hit a number that reflects a real shift in your market, not just your company, there's a story in there. "We hit 10,000 customers" isn't news. "We hit 10,000 customers, and 40% of them switched from [dominant competitor/old way of doing things]" starts to be. The milestone is the proof. The shift is the story.
✅ You have a counterintuitive take backed by real experience. This is more than just an opinion. It’s a perspective that challenges what most people in your industry believe, grounded in something you've actually seen or done. Reporters love a source who will say something interesting. Most sources won't.
✅ You can speak to something already in the news. When something is dominating the news cycle, and your business or expertise can offer a credible, specific angle on the story, that’s when having an opinion can be news. This is called newsjacking, and when it's done well, it's one of the most reliable ways to earn coverage.
The shortcut I give clients (and, a lot of times, myself): before you pitch anything, ask "why would someone who has never heard of my company care about this right now?"
If you can't answer that in one sentence, the pitch isn't ready.
If you can answer it, you're already ahead of most of the pitches sitting in that reporter's inbox.
Hit reply and tell me what you're working on. I'm always happy to give you a quick gut-check on whether you've got a real news hook — or help you find one.
See you next week,
Megan
P.S. I’m SO sorry I missed y’all last week. I was on my single ski trip of the year in Canada, and honestly just forgot. It happens. Hope everyone enjoyed their week!