How To Pitch Political Stories

Posted June 18, 2018 by Bill Wheelhouse

Tim Wieland of KCNC in Denver has some guidelines if you are a reporter who REALLY wants to report political stories in your market.

He has these five tips on pitching political stories:

 

  1. Know how the story directly relates to your audience.
  2. Answer the question, “who is affected/” and include a personal example.
  3. Research your story.  No “half baked” ideas.
  4. Don’t wait for the news conference. Pitch stories that anticipate compelling political topics.
  5. Be passionate about politics. Fight for your story.

Also a list of five ways NOT to pitch political stories:

  1. Do not suggest personalizing a political story by gathering man on the street.
  2. Do not use the word “caucus”
  3. Do not suggest stories that must be filled with file video and graphics.
  4. Do not allow a news conference or legislative hearing to be the focus of your story.
  5. Do not get defensive about a bias against political reporting if there are questions about your story.  Argue for a story based on its merits.