“I Hope All Is Well”

This is the opening line for far too many PR story “pitch” letters emailed to journalists. To call it a cliche would be to state the obvious. In fact, it’s such a hollow greeting — often sent to reporters with whom the publicist has no prior relationship — it becomes a non-starter, if not a catalyst for the reporter to expose the sender in a caustic tweet. At no time is this more true than the present day.

The New York Times’s Brooks Barnes posted a piece late yesterday in which he echoed what many of his beleaguered WFH colleagues in the fourth estate were no doubt feeling:

“Silent scream: All is actually the exact opposite of well!”

The piece, “The Art of the Pitch in the Midst of a Pandemic,” actually sympathized with a PR community wherein many clients still expect their agencies to garner “earned media” attention for their products and services, even during these dystopian times. He writes:

At first glance, Ms. McCormick’s note, forwarded to me by a nonplused recipient, came across as offensively extraterrestrial. What planet was this person living on? Then I felt an emotion approaching compassion: She was just doing her job.

I remember in the aftermath of 9/11, I was asked by more than a few reporters whether it’s OK to recommence story-pitching to journalists…