How to pitch stories to worldwide publications like the Financial Times

 After attending a recent media talk with the Financial Times, we have learnt a lot from how the worldwide paper plans to continue producing great quality stories for their subscribers and readers on and offline.

The experienced reporter and now News Editor, Matthew Garrahan of FT runs one of the UK’s busiest news desks and shares his insights on how the pandemic has changed the way the paper runs their stories. 

The Financial Times is one of the counties most successful broadsheet papers which receives over 3,000 pitches a day and the majority of these emails do not get responses due to the sheer volume of messages they get at their UK and International newsdesk. 

However, we often wonder why, as a digital marketing and PR agency, why our emails get ignored, and it is not always because we have delivered a lousy campaign or story it is because the primary mailbox is full and not checked regularly. 

Instead, the senior reporters at Financial Times advise digital PR agencies and PR specialists to contact them with detailed reports that translate with what is happening in the news and fit the FT’s tone of voice. 

“We want PR’s to focus on the current news and understand that we focus on key trends and changes happening around the world. From the economy, business, financial and political news. We are always having to adjust to things rapidly changing and have to make sure it is interesting for our readers.”

Alongside emphasizing that the way they plan their news is different from other national and lifestyle publications. They are always looking for innovative news stories which capture a real-life element to what is going on in the UK, Europe and U.S.

” We write new stories every day from 7 am. So, If you have a client who is running a successful business or has achieved something substantial we are open to hearing those pitches as our subscribers like to be inspired by people who are succeeding and making big changes in their life.”

Thinking outside of the box and producing exclusive reports for your clients may be the way forward for securing a media opportunity at the Financial Times as unlike other national papers, their primary audience is online. So, producing a story for a reporter who writes for their digital publication can be an excellent opportunity for any client who is looking for national media coverage. 

Pitching tips:

• If you are pitching a business news story for a client, please ensure it is a well-detailed report which gives the journalists plenty of details. Also, ensure you’ve got lots of quotes and provide the reporter with the flexibility to talk to your client as they prefer to speak on the phone. 
• If you are looking to pitch a comment for a live news piece, you are best contacting the opinion desk for quotes for clients – Do not contact the business desk or reporters.
• Do NOT pitch to Editors – Please contact the relevant reports and not the generic newsdesk email or editors as a backup option. They will ignore your email.
• But when is the best time to pitch? – Reporters begin working from as early as 07:00 until 15:00. However, if you miss the cut-off, don’t be afraid to send your emails to a weekend or evening reporter to secure a story in the morning.