One of the more gratifying and important activities in PR is crafting a pitch that hooks a reporter… leading to an interview that hopefully leads to coverage. We've all experienced the expectations, and then the disappointment to read the article only to find the CXO or spokesperson entirely absent. Just like real estate deal, a lot can happen before a contract is signed, or in working with journalists, before the story goes to print, making you or a client feel like you opened an empty gift box.
While you always want to prepare for an interview, sharpening your message points for clarity and brevity, and being armed with good statistics or anecdotes, there can be several reasons for being left out of a story. Some are in your control, and some out of your control. Here’s a few of the most common reasons for not being included: