7 tips for recycling a story pitch that didn’t get picked up the first time (or maybe did)

John Boyd, Founder k12pr.com, , ,

If you have an interesting story happening at your campus but the first attempt to pitch it to the media didn’t work out, here are few ways to break your story into its component parts to spin a new pitch that might yield better results. #schoolpr

Just like there is more than one way to skin a cat (why would anyone do that, though?), there is more than one way to pitch a story.

If you have an interesting story happening at your campus but the first attempt to pitch it to the media didn’t work out, here are few ways to break your story into its component parts to spin a new pitch that might yield better results. (Note: These are also good tips for repitching the same story to a reporter who already covered it once.)

Original Story Pitch:

A high school senior is accepted into multiple prestigious colleges and has a month to choose which one he/she will attend.

Alternative Pitch Strategies

Turn your subject into an expert. Instead of pitching a story about a student being accepted to multiple colleges, instead offer him/her as an expert who can give “how-to” advice to other families on how to do everything from write application letters, take college-ready coursework, research potential colleges, or structure a campus visit.

Change the ‘who’ of your story. If the media isn’t interested in the story of one smart student in a sea of many, perhaps they might be interested in the story of the student’s parent, teacher, or other inspiration. What was this person’s own high school/college story and how does it differ/compare to your student? Was there a sacrifice they made to create this opportunity for the student? Something different they offered to this student that other people in their life didn’t or couldn’t?

Reset the stakes by changing the emphasis of the story. In the original pitch, the focus of the story was the colleges’ acceptance. However, you can change the stakes by repitching the story about the decision the student has ahead, the difficulty of the choice he/she has to make, and what he/she is doing to make sure they are making the right choice. Now, instead of having a story whose endpoint is in the past, the storyline is still ongoing, which allows the reporter to jump on board mid-journey.

Change the type of story. If your education reporter isn’t biting, is there a way to repitch it to someone with a different beat? If your student wants to become a doctor, you can try repitching to a health/medicine reporter, leaning heavy on the student’s related school projects from the past. Or would a travel writer be interested in how the family is saving money on flight and hotel costs for all of their campus visits?

Link your story to a bigger trend. If you have a story about one person, find a way to quantify it as part of a larger trend or connect it with something else happening in your community.

Build a social media coalition around your pitch. Share your story on social media, tagging relevant groups (in this case, prospective colleges). With a little luck, these institutions will like and hopefully share your story, both of which will help it be seen on social media where reporters are digging for stories. The institutional endorsement will also lend credit to the story as something “newsworthy.”

Sell the obscure detail. Find something small but unique about the student’s story or personality and build the pitch around it. For example, imagine these subject lines showing up in an education reporter’s inbox:

  • How many hours of studying per night does it take to get into Harvard?
  • The hardest part about writing a college admission essay
  • The toughest class this future Ivy Leaguer ever took
  • When this mom knew her child was more than just smart
  • How the school’s smartest student likes to veg out when he’s not preparing for Yale

They kind of make you want to learn more, right?

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Published by John Boyd, Founder k12pr.com

John Boyd is a school public relations professional, former journalist, and creator of k12pr.com. He lives and works in Houston, Texas.

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