If you’re pitching National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” Carol Klinger, associate editor, who has worked for NPR since 1995 and fielded thousands of pitches, says you must remember that this show deals with breaking news, not mostly feature-oriented stories that are the mainstay of other NPR shows.
Here are her pitching tips.
Pitches she hates:
- Get rich quick products or services
- Anything diet-related
- “The next big thing” in the health category
Pitches she loves:
- Those that tie into breaking news stories. Smart publicists, she says, call their authors as soon as they hear about a breaking news event that ties into the client’s expertise. Then they call her and pitch—that day!
- Stories that have “terrific sound.” For example, one of her sources who works for a university pitched a story about how, as part of an experiment, the school was going to drop cars atop a hurricane shelter to see how much strain the shelter could take.
- Pitches from publicists whose clients have just had an amazing experience. Call her that day, not three days later.
Carol shared the tips during a 15-minute interview with Eric Schwartzman from On the Record…Online. Listen here.
Here’s my tip: Before you pitch any NPR show, take advantage of their voluminous archives. Just use the search box at the top of the NPR site, search for a topic, and you’ll find lots of shows that have discussed it. Pay attention to the kinds of topics and guests they feature. (See “How to Get Booked on National Public Radio.”)