In our first ‘Media Spotlight’ column for the year, we are very fortunate to speak with Katie Gregory who is a Reporter and Producer for Reuters (international news agency) based in the US.
Katie has worked for Reuters in both London and New York City since 2014 and covered news stories ranging from Royal weddings in the UK and the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, to terror attacks and major political events like Brexit and the 2020 U.S. Presidential Elections.
She is a former Reporter for ‘A Current Affair’ in Brisbane and Producer/Reporter for Nine News Sydney – safe to say that Katie knows a thing or two about the television media landscape and identifying powerful news stories.
Here’s what Katie had to share:
Please explain your role within the newsroom:
My role is extremely diverse, and each day is different. I pitch stories to international television clients, set-up exclusive interviews and filming opportunities, present news and business programming in studio, report live on location, and I also produce, script, voice and video edit my own stories. I cover breaking news, business, and equity market news as well as global politics.
What do you look for in a good story?
For me, it is all about relevance – will my audience be impacted by this story and how? What about this story will they find particularly interesting or captivating? So, I look for something that is unique and usually a topic/story with even a slight news peg – something I can then turn into a wider relevant news piece. Linking a pitch to a current news topic or social issue is great, particularly for news journalists.
The second big thing I look for in a TV news story is the visuals. What can I film? Will this story be visually appealing? If not, can I work around that somehow? How hard will it be to tell the story without proper visuals?
What advice do you have for small businesses who are pitching the media for the very first time?
Pick your audience. It may seem obvious, but I receive so many blanket press release emails and that’s totally fine – businesses can certainly do that as well – but also take the time to personalise your message for the media outlets you’ve identified as key opportunities. You might have something that is chat segment worthy on a morning news programme, so streamline your approach to this by offering up a media-trained spokesperson from your company and provide product visuals or topical B Roll to cover the segment, and a satisfied customer or case study to appear as well.
If you are pitching to television outlets, advise them of what they can film in the release. Offer up unique visual opportunities and go above and beyond to make your story sound visually appealing. Also include any recent stats or relevant data to back-up what you’re pitching.
Unless you’re pitching directly to a News Director, anyone else in a newsroom will usually have to sell your story in an editorial meeting – so give them all the tools to do that successfully. If you think it is something that will suit a particular media outlet – pick up the phone. Like every busy professional we can miss emails, or we’ll skim read while on a shoot and then forget about it. Most of the time journalists will be up front and tell you on the phone if it’s not a story for them. Don’t be disheartened by this – we operate with tight bulletin timings, crazy deadlines and stringent news bosses. If you are unsure, call a friendly media contact at an outlet you think might run the story, ask their advice on pitching the story and who to pitch to.
If you want to learn more about the world of PR and effectively pitching the media, then check out The PR & Publicity Blueprint – our 6 week online PR course and media relations masterclass which is jam packed full of everything you need to know to become PR and pitching pro in no time.