By Arianna Johnson
Researching the culture of the company one pitches to is extremely important, according to senior mass media arts major Miranda Perez.
Perez led a Pitching 101 workshop with the CAU chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists to a Zoom audience. She has worked with several publications such as Essence, The Nation, Poynter, and more.
Perez urged audiences to figure out the topics they would like to focus on and research publications that align with those topics. Once they have this figured out, she suggested using social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn to find editors to pitch to.
“I personally do fashion and social justice journalism, so the types of companies I want to pitch to are Essence, they’re The Nation, Teen Vogue. [Companies like these] are where I want to see my name,” Perez stated
Details are an important aspect of media. From spelling names correctly to including the right — everything is essential. If words are misspelled, editors can be turned off. To combat this, Perez recommended double-checking everything.
Perez presented an example of her first pitch that got her a byline in The Nation. The story discussed the lack of sexual health conversations and resources on HBCU campuses. She explained that she reached out to an editor via a Tweet urging college students to pitch to them.
Publications oftentimes don’t respond to pitches. This doesn’t discourage Perez, however. She advised audiences not to be afraid to follow up with companies if they don’t hear back from publications.
“Be bold, be confident, and if the person isn’t picking up your pitch, look at it and be like ‘Why didn’t they’” Perez stated.
She first learned how to pitch in her Multi-Media Writing and Reporting class. She stated that she took notes from her professor and applied them to her pitches.
Perez is a graduating senior at Clark Atlanta University from Chicago. She is a mass media arts major with a concentration in journalism. Perez is the current managing editor of CAU The Panther and the president of Her Campus CAU.
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