How to pitch me

Most of the news pitches I get are bad. Journalists like to complain about this, but we’re often unclear about what we cover and how we like to be pitched. Here’s a guide.

KNOW MY PUBLICATION

I write for The Chronicle of Higher Education, the leading news source about colleges and universities. Most stories are free online. We don’t cover K-12.

The Chronicle has a national audience, so our stories must be broadly relevant. One question to ask of your pitch: Would somebody working at a college a few thousand miles away think this is worth reading about?

DON’T BE SHY

Pitches can be a wonderful source of stories. I don’t get enough good ones. Tell me what’s unique about your college or company, and I’ll listen.

DO BE BRIEF

Good pitches are short. They get to the point. There isn’t much difference between a good pitch and a good newspaper story – except pitches need only the first few paragraphs. You can always link to more information.

USE EMAIL

A phone pitch usually feels like an interruption. I try to respond to all personal news pitches; if I don’t respond to your email, it’s fine to send a follow-up note.

KNOW WHAT I COVER

Even just a few minutes on my website will give you an idea of what I like to write about. A reference in your pitch to something I’ve written before tells me you’re serious about matching your pitch to the right writer.

I’m particularly interested in news on one of my three beats:

California and the West: I’m based in San Francisco, and many of my stories come from the West Coast. Truly innovative ideas at colleges in Western states are good. Pitches that put the goings-on at one college into a regional or national perspective are even better. I almost never cover events.
Educational technology: I write about educational software, online marketing, social networks, and start-ups. My favorite pitches come directly from CEOs, because they tend not to waste time on fluff, like feature releases or silly jargon.
Interactive graphics: I design and build interactive graphics for the Chronicle’s website, such as this one or this one. If you know of a higher ed data source, or if your college uses data in a compelling way, let me know.