Most Reporters Are Overwhelmed

Okay, late last week I got off the phone with a reporter who covers international news, including foreign policy and foreign aid, which is what I wanted to talk about. He sounded so overwhelmed. He kept asking another caller if he could call him back, he was busy. And when I asked him if he’d seen what I sent him a day earlier he confessed that he wasn’t sure, because he deletes a lot. Maybe he was having a particularly busy day, but my hunch is that every day is like this for him. And lo and behold, he’s like a lot of us: overwhelmed by all the email. How do I know this? Because he asked if the report I attached as a PDF could be sent to him in the mail, the real, costs money mail. Sure, I told him though in truth it felt as if I were not only doing something really old-fashioned but sort of wasteful even. But he asked . . .

So what’s my point here?  My point is that it continues to take many calls and emails to get people’s attention, especially now, especially when people are working harder and harder. Either they’ve taken up the slack left behind by an employee who was let go or given projects that would’ve gone to someone else but there’s no budget to hire someone else . . . You know what I’m talking about: we’re all doing more with less.

So instead of wondering why someone hasn’t returned your call (never wonder that; there’s nothing to be gained here) pick up the phone and check in and leave a message if necessary. And make sure your pitch is still relevant. Sometimes we forget that what we pitched a week ago is old and basically done.