What journalists wish PR teams understood about story quality

I was a journalist. I talk to journalists all the time. I follow them on social media. I hear their gripes, their advice to those pitching, their wishes when it comes to pitches landing in their inboxes. And most of the frustration comes down to one thing - story quality.

It sounds obvious, of course. A good quality story is likely to do better than a bad one. Yet the vast majority of businesses pitching to journalists fall short (often far short) of this seemingly low hurdle. A journalist’s job is not to publish what a business wants to say, it’s to publish something their readers will care about. Ask yourself:

Why would anyone outside our organisation find this interesting?

If there isn't a compelling reason, it's not a story. It might still be important internally, but that doesn't make it news.

If it's not new, it's not news

Firstly, is your news contemporary? The name of the game is in the title: new(s). If it's not new, it's not news. Then ask yourself what's unique about your news? What stands out? What's changing? And, most importantly, what impact does it have? And on whom?

Claims backed with data, examples or real‑world consequences go infinitely further than “industry‑leading,” “innovative” or “first-of-its-kind.”

Real people make stories stronger

Think about people - your employees, customers, stakeholders, service users. Human stories are nearly always more interesting than corporate narratives. We can say journalists gravitate more towards stories about people at their core, but it's not just journalists. We all do.

Think about when you scroll through LinkedIn. The posts that stop you in your tracks are the ones with a photo of a real person. The YouTube videos that go viral are the ones with a person on the thumbnail, often pulling a silly expression. People are drawn to people like magnets... and so are journalists to stories about people.

A story with people in it is a story with texture.

Skip the spin

Admission time: I'm a cynic. Always have been. But this is a "quality" (deliberate inverted commas) that I share with most journalists. Whenever I received a press release from the town council, for example, I immediately asked why they wanted to share this news. What was the story behind it. This helps journalists dig beneath the spin. I was the bane of the council's PR team because, no matter how well written their release, I always came back with more questions.

That doesn't mean you should avoid strong messaging, but it does mean your messaging should be honest, proportionate, aligned with reality, and not trying to hide or distract from something obvious.

Deadlines matter

If a journalist tells you they need a statement, clarification, quote, photo, or whatever the request may be by a certain time/day, they mean it. Journalists work to tight deadlines. If you miss their deadline, don't expect them to still run your story.

However, on the flip side, if a journalist gives you a deadline, you meet it, it passes, and you still haven't seen your story published, don't go chasing it up immediately. News agendas are organic, they move to the latest breaking news at a moment's notice. I've had TV news crews cancel at the last minute because the local football club just sacked their manager, or an inch of snow has caused havoc at the train station.

When the time is right, the journalist will revisit your story. Give it a week at least. Still nothing? Then it might be time to ask if they're still interested in running it, as you've had interest elsewhere.

Pitch the right journalist

Vying with story quality for first place among journalist bugbears is receiving pitches about subjects they do not cover.

If you're going to pitch your story to a journalist, take a look at their portfolio. That doesn't mean asking them for a curated portfolio - it means searching their name on Google or on the website of the publication you're targetting. Have they covered similar stories before? Do they cover your business's sector? What format do those stories take?

Don't pitch a lifestyle piece to a business journalist, for example.

Forget volume. Focus on value.

Journalists don’t want more pitches. They want better ones. A smaller number of high‑quality, relevant, timely stories will do far more for an organisation’s reputation than constant noise.

At Schofield Communications, this is exactly how we approach media relations: not by sending as much as possible, but by ensuring every story we develop has a clear purpose, a strong angle and something meaningful to say.

When PR teams understand story quality the way journalists do, relationships improve, coverage improves, and reputations strengthen.