How to Pitch a Story to a News Outlet (And Get a Reply)

A working guide to pitching stories that editors actually open: finding the right desk, writing a subject line that survives the inbox, structuring the pitch, offering exclusives correctly, and the follow up etiquette that keeps doors open.

By Muhammad MehdiPublished 20 September 2026· Updated 20 September 2026· 4 min read

Every working editor's inbox receives more pitches than any honest triage can absorb, and most die in the first five seconds, not because the stories are bad but because the pitches make the editor do work the pitcher should have done. What follows is the anatomy of the pitches that survive that triage, assembled from how commissioning actually works at desks that take outside contributors.

Understand what an editor is buying

An editor does not buy writing. An editor buys a piece of reporting: a specific, checkable contribution to a story readers already have reason to care about. The distinction drives everything. "I will write an essay about inflation" offers effort. "I have traced, from procurement records, which three companies won the contracts behind the new number, and none has done this before" offers evidence.

The strongest pitches contain a finding, not a plan. If your story has not yet been reported, the pitch says precisely what you will obtain and why you are the person who can obtain it. If it has been reported, the pitch leads with the strongest single fact you can stand behind, because that fact is doing the selling.

Find the desk before you write

A pitch to the wrong address is a pitch to nobody. Ten minutes on the outlet's own pages identifies the right person: mastheads list editors by section, contributor guidelines state what each desk commissions, and recent stories in your subject name the people editing them. Pitching the person who actually commissions your subject doubles your reply rate by itself, and reading their recent commissions tells you the outlet's format, length and appetite, which you should then visibly match.

One more reason to personalise: editors talk to each other. The overlap between desks is a working community, and a pitch visibly sent to eight outlets at once is remembered longer than any single story.

The subject line is the pitch

The inbox sorts pitches into open-now and open-never by subject line alone. The working formula is concrete and short: what the story shows, or what kind of piece it is plus the hook. "Pitch: the city paid $4 million for a bridge that was never built" opens. "A story idea I think your readers will love" does not. Numbers, names and the format of the piece belong in the subject line; adjectives do not.

The body, in four moves

Move one, the story in two sentences: what happened or what you found, stated as a fact you could defend. Move two, why now: the news peg, the decision landing this month, the anniversary, the document just released. Editors commission against calendars, and a story with no time on it is a story for someday. Move three, the evidence: your sources in categories, documents seen, interviews conducted, data assembled. You do not burn sources in a pitch; you show the scaffolding exists. Move four, why you: two sentences of relevant history, with a link to published work. Unpublished writers link to the best available sample; what matters is demonstrating you finish things.

Then stop. One hundred and fifty words. The pitch's job is to earn a reply, not to be the article.

Exclusives, timing and the etiquette of no

An exclusive, offered honestly, is the strongest card an unknown pitcher holds: one outlet gets first publication, and in exchange you usually get a real answer, faster. Offer it explicitly, one desk at a time, with a stated deadline, "I am offering this exclusively until Friday, after which I will take it elsewhere". That sentence is not aggressive; it is professional, and it is how working journalists actually place stories.

If the answer is no, thank them and move to the next desk. If there is no answer, one brief follow up after a week, then the next desk. Desks differ in appetite even at the same outlet, and a story declined three times is a story with three data points about its framing, not a verdict on its worth.

After the yes

A commissioned pitch begins the part that builds a career: delivering the piece you promised, at the length agreed, by the date agreed, with every claim in it checkable by the desk. Editors forgive a missed angle. They forgive an honest change of plan reported early. What they do not rehire after is invented certainty, sources that dissolve on contact or numbers that appeared in no notebook. The habits that got the pitch accepted, precision and evidence, are the same habits that turn one commission into ten, and eventually into the standing relationships where editors start writing to you.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a story pitch be?

Between 100 and 200 words in the body of the email, plus a subject line that names the story. An editor needs the what, the why now, the why you and the evidence in one screen. Attach nothing; links only.

What makes editors stop reading a pitch?

Vagueness above all: a pitch that describes a topic rather than a story. 'I want to write about energy policy' is a topic; 'I can show, from documents, that a specific decision was made three months before it was announced' is a story. Generic greetings and mass BCC also end pitches quickly, editors compare notes.

Should I offer my story as an exclusive?

If it is genuinely strong, yes, exclusives get faster answers and better rates. Offer it to one outlet at a time and say so explicitly, with a date by which you need a response before you take it elsewhere. Never offer the same exclusive to two desks at once; the overlap community is small and word travels.

What if I have information rather than a story?

Say that plainly and let the outlet's tip process take over. Many outlets, including this one, list a secure contact channel for exactly this purpose. The bar is different for tips: the outlet supplies the verification muscle, you supply what you know and how you know it.

How soon should I follow up on a pitch?

After five to seven business days, once, briefly. Editors triage hundreds of emails and a short reply with the original thread underneath is standard. A second follow up is where the line sits; beyond that, pitch the story elsewhere and move on.

Sources

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