Aaron Mok is a freelance writer and AI contributor at Observer.
During the episode, Aaron discusses how ChatGPT sparked his interest in the AI beat, the types of pitches and sources he prefers, and how PR professionals from AI startups can best engage with him.
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Click below to listen to the full conversation and read below for highlights from the interview:
[0:04:18] AM: I would say the stronger the subject line, the better I tend to like skim through
things very quickly. So, if I see embargo or exclusive interview or something about AI related to
the news that'll capture my attention more.
[0:04:36] BB: Okay. Then in terms of the pitch inside the email, what do you like to see? Do you like
exclusive interviews?
[0:04:41] AM: Yeah. I do like then embargoes. If there's any interesting data coming out around
AI and its impact. I'm interested in that. I also like news stories that are counterintuitive. So yeah,
like there's this whole narrative right now about AI potentially replacing jobs. If I see a pitch that
says AI could compliment your job, that's something that would interest me, because it goes
against what's widely said.
[0:05:15] BB: Okay. you're looking for maybe avant-garde, maybe counterintuitive type of
people. Then so speaking of that, sources for you look like what?
[0:05:26] AM: I am particularly looking for a few different types of sources now. I'm interested in
how businesses are using AI internally. How they adopt tools like ChatGPT to make their
processes more efficient. For example, people who have used AI in interesting ways. I love to
learning about that. Yeah, just like unique use cases for that. I'm interested in like embargoed
climate tech deals specifically related to clean energy. That's something that I'm covering more
closely now. Just executives at companies that are open to being candid. They're not just here
to sell me a product. They're here to talk about what's working, what's not working, any
challenges they're facing.
[0:06:07] BB: you want them to spill the beans a bit.
[0:06:09] AM: Yeah. Just a little bit.
[0:06:10] BB: Just a little bit. You don't have to say damn everything, but yeah, exactly.
[0:06:13] AM: I also am interested in talking to people who work at companies. Engineers,
people on sales teams. If you want to give me an inside look at what's going on. Then that work.
[0:06:26] BB: No, wait a second. You don't hear that one too often. People with sales teams.
So, why is that? Because they're going to be able to tell you, hey, this is what's resonating or
not. You really hear like, oh yeah, let me talk to the sales rep.
[0:06:37] AM: Yeah. Maybe not like sales reps in particular, but it's people internally, like anyone
who's not an executive, just a normal employee, middle manager. I find that talking to like those
people have more interesting anecdotes and are more honest about what's going on at a
company versus talking to an executive who is just trying to make the company look good and
safe.
[0:07:01] BB: Yeah.
[0:07:01] AM: Talking points.
[0:07:01] BB: You want to hear the scoop.
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[0:07:50] AM: Yeah. Subject lines, the AI revolution needs a green makeover. Unlocking the
secrets of consumer psychology and tech innovation. Overcome the positive syndrome of these
techs.
[0:08:04] BB: For you, what stood out for those?
[0:08:05] AM: The first one, "The AI revolution needs a green makeover," that was one that
spoke out to me, because I was doing a story on the carbon impact of AI data centers. I was
interested in the solutions to that, it just so happened that I got this pitch with the subject line
and it immediately caught my attention. It was a source that was exactly what I was looking for.
It was both like timely. Also, relevant to my story.
[0:08:36] BB: Okay. Is there subject lines you see, Aaron, you go, “Oh, please, no. Please.” Any
or anything where you're like, “No.” This drives me crazy with pitches?
[0:08:48] AM: Yeah. I got a lot of pitches unrelated to what I write about. It’s about what I'm
thinking off the top of my head is here are five tips to overcome imposter syndrome. I don't write
about the how, the wellness, anything like that. I also get pitches for different products, because
should maybe it's mentioned this earlier, but on top of AI, I also write about climate change and
sustainability. It's usually more on the business and tech angle, but I tend to see pitches of
sustainable swimwear, or sustainable cups, and lots of products that I frankly have no interest
in. Yeah, please don't send those to me.
[0:09:29] BB: No, we don't want to see those. Okay.
[0:12:29] AM: Yeah. One thing that I've encountered is when PR professionals over promise.
What I mean by that is there's been incidents where I've been offered an interview. I say, yes,
and I take it. Then it turns out they're not available by my deadlines or they can't do it anymore
for whatever reason. It's an issue, because I tend to base my deadlines around getting access
to sources. So, if I pitch an editor being like I have this interview secured, my deadline is in two
days and I can't get it, then the story gets it's done.
[0:13:06] BB: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. This is a pet peeve I've heard numerous times on the show
is like, you're like, “Oh, my gosh. I have this person. This person. This person.” Then you're like,
“No, you don't.” Because you can't get me that person until three weeks later.
[0:13:18] AM: Exactly.
[0:13:19] BB: Yeah. Okay. What else did you want to add?
[0:13:20] AM: Yeah. I cover business and tech and sometimes I get pitches that are too product
focused. I think the tricky thing about being a business journalist is that you have to balance the
line between writing about the business, but also not doing marketing for them. So, when I do
tech stories, I want to understand why it's important as supposed to how the product, why the
product is great or what the product can solve, because it's not really my job to try to do for
marketing.
[0:13:53] BB: Introduce that. Yeah, exactly. Anything else?
[0:13:57] AM: Please don't pitch me through signal or text.
[0:14:00] BB: Oh, oh, yeah. No, no. First of all, how do you find your text? What? No.
[0:14:05] AM: I do have my number.
[0:14:07] BB: Oh, no. Aaron, that's why then.
[0:14:10] AM: Yeah.
[0:14:12] BB: It's your own fault, sir.
[0:14:14] AM: Yeah. It was helpful when I was at Business Insider getting scoops and sources
would reach out to me about like things happening within the company that's I hear less from
those people now. It's more PR people's just texting me saying, “Hey.”
[0:15:34] BB: Good to know. Aaron, I have a quick rapid-fire question set. Are you ready?
Great. Video or phone interview?
[0:15:41] AM: Video.
[0:15:42] BB: Oh, okay. Can we talk about that for a second? This is also a controversial one.
Video, why is that? You want to see people's faces? Make sure they're not a bot.
[0:15:49] AM: I do want to see people's faces. I also find that interviews are better when I could
see them. It feels more authentic and genuine. I can pick up on cues where if someone is not
interested or not knowledgeable about a certain topic. I'll change, it has a different question or if
something's really talking a lot about something. I'll ask them more about it. Hopefully, we do the
interview better.
[0:16:15] BB: Plus, I think you get my take more attention as in my eyes are on the screen
looking at you. Hopefully, that would be my fun. Okay. Bullet points or paragraphs in a pitch?
[0:16:28] AM: Bullet points.
[0:16:30] BB: Short or long pitches? Probably short.
[0:16:32] AM: Short.
[0:16:34] BB: Images attached or a drop box zip file?
[0:16:35] AM: It doesn't really matter to me, but I would say images attached.
[0:16:41] BB: Email or DM of any sort?
[0:16:43] AM: Please email me. Do not DM me.
[0:16:45] BB: No one wants a DM. Listen. One follow-up or multiple?
[0:16:49] AM: I would say follow up two times tops. There'll be situations where they follow up
every single day for like a week.
[0:16:58] BB: Oh, no, no, no, no.
[0:17:00] AM: I don't like that.
[0:17:00] BB: I feel you. Direct or creative subject lines?
[0:17:04] AM: Direct.
[0:17:05] BB: Press release or media kit?
[0:17:06] AM: Press release.
[0:17:08] BB: Time that you read pitches or is it all the time?
[0:17:10] AM: I usually read it first thing in the morning, maybe around nine, but my inbox isn't
that crazy right now. I check every other day.
[0:17:20] BB: Can we talk about that? Because did you in the previous life, what's the
comparison here? Were you like, “Oh, my God, I always getting 400 emails a day.” Now, you're
down. What's the gap?
[0:17:31] AM: Yeah. When I was on staff, I was getting probably like 50, 60 emails a day.
[0:17:37] BB: Just pitches?
[0:17:38] AM: Just pitches from a different yard. Now, it's more like 10 to 15 a day.
[0:17:45] BB: Okay. Yeah, as you mentioned, or even four or five. Let me ask you this further.
Did you have a different strategy than when you were full time there? Did you go through all the
pitches like you do now?
[0:17:55] AM: I'm not really inbox zero person. A subject line that wasn’t interesting, I would just
ignore it and keep going. I don't even click them. But similar to what I do now, it something really
sticks out, like if it's counterintuitive or if there's an interesting data point or an interesting source
relevant to a story I'm working on. I pull that –
[0:18:14] BB: Well, those are all my rapid-fire questions for you.
________
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