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.