Pitching
Part of PR outreach operations
Avoiding duplicate outreach to the same journalist
Prevent duplicate pitches with checks for known addresses, story angles, reservations and live conversations.
Before sending a pitch, check the shared outreach record for the journalist, known addresses and story angle. If someone has already approached them or reserved that angle, resolve ownership first. A check made only when the media list is built will miss later sends.
Define what counts as a duplicate
An exact email-address match is useful but incomplete. A journalist may have an old work address, a new address or an alias. Connect known addresses to one person when the evidence supports it; do not merge people just because their names are similar.
Compare the proposed pitch with earlier sends. A new subject line does not turn the same finding into a new story. Declining one subject does not necessarily rule out an unrelated future approach.
The record needs both a person identifier and a story or angle identifier. The sender can then judge whether a proposed contact repeats an earlier one.
Duplicate outreach: what counts as a repeat?
- Same email address
- May indicate duplication, but not definitive due to aliases or old addresses
- Same story angle
- Even with new subject lines, same angle = potential duplicate
- Different reporters at same publication
- Separate contacts; check for exclusivity or embargo arrangements
- Previous declined pitch
- Does not rule out future contact on unrelated angles
Reserve the contact before sending
Use a shared queue with an owner and planned send time. Reserve a proposed contact while the owner completes approval. Immediately before sending, check actual sends, scheduled messages, live conversations and contact restrictions again. Release a reservation when a send is cancelled, and record the cancellation.
Include agency and in-house activity where both work on the campaign. Separate lists cannot reliably reveal that the other team has already pitched the journalist. Assign someone to resolve conflicts, or maintain a shared, current campaign exclusion list with a clear update process.
Handle desks and multiple reporters carefully
Two reporters at one publication are separate contacts. Sending the same angle to several people at once can still cause confusion. Check whether a desk address or editor already has the story, and whether an exclusivity or embargo arrangement limits further contact. Record a deliberate decision to approach someone else at the publication.
If a duplicate has gone out, stop scheduled repeats and identify the messages and recipients. The conversation owner can then decide whether a brief correction would help. An apology that repeats the full pitch may add another unwanted message.
The send-time decision is specific: is this the same person, the same angle or an existing conversation, and is there any restriction? The check makes a new approach deliberate without blocking every future contact.
