Ever use AI to test pitches before sending them to reporters? Try it sometime. It’s a fun way to improve them. For the proper horsepower, you’ll need a paid subscription to a Gen AI service such as GPT-4 or Claude 3.
Just for fun, try creating the story pitch after the story is written. We did that this week, using generative AI. We pasted an already-published story into each of three GenAI tools and asked it to write a compelling PR pitch based on that article.
It’s 2026. You’ve got a new job, earning $250K a year as “VP, Pitch Analytics.” You’ve got a modest budget to retain freelance tech reporters. You manage an intern.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that when you’re pitching Tier 1 reporters, you are pitching their bosses at the same time. That’s why it’s helpful to understand the entire editorial process in the publications you’re pitching — not just the persuasion part.
… is now available. Big thanks to SWMS subscribers Morgan McLintic and Chris Ulbrich for the opportunity to be a guest on the newly launched
A subscriber reports that HARO needs to do a better job of labeling a corporate blogger as a corporate blogger. Because of how HARO presents
Search platform TechNews last month introduced features that let users spot trends deep within tech editorial. Launched as IT Database in 2007, TechNews is widely used within tech PR to learn who is writing what.
We’ve decided to go ahead and publish selected slides from a presentation we made to a subscriber several weeks ago. We hesitated because some of the slides leaned toward “preachy”; subscribers typically like it when SWMS stays in its lane, delivering cheat sheets and tech media analysis.
Bloomberg reporter Matthew Boyle Tweets: “Another hour lost to rooting around a startup’s ‘newsroom’ page, looking in vain through the fawning case studies and trite
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… and it has no problem disclosing how. Reporters still run the joint, but they are getting AI assistance.
The Atlantic’s Karen Hao, in conjunction with the Pulitzer Center, is designing a course in AI for journalists. Classes begin next month. Details here. Might be something to alert your friendlies about. Karen hopes to help train 1,000 journalists in AI over the next two years.
Joshua Topolsky‘s edit project for Robinhood is optimized for mobile but you can peruse it here. The design seems crazy. Context from Axios’s Sara Fischer here.
‘The Prompt” is not out yet, but you can sign up for it here.
That’s the strategy as expressed to NYT’s Katie Robertson by Axios CEO Jim VandeHei. First up: Eleanor Hawkins, Sara Fischer and Dan Primack.
Forbes’s reputation is taking a hit because of the ad scandal unearthed this month by the WSJ. Some advertisers have stopped spending with Forbes, at least temporarily. Here’s the latest from Digiday [subscription required].
