Daysia Tolentino is the culture and trends reporter at NBC News. Daysia covers the latest Internet happenings from pop culture to social media.

During the episode, Daysia shares why she feels PR pitches are late to pointing out Internet trends, why she loves learning about relevant reports and data, why bolding and bullets are super helpful for her, and more.

Follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click below to listen to the full conversation and read below for highlights from the interview:

Why She Deletes Irrelevant Pitches

[00:05:27] DT: That's something we're definitely interested in, too. I do like covering niche communities. But I think to get it to the level of newsworthiness nowadays, it either needs to kind of have this overarching theme or nut graph, as we kind of like to say, this broader picture that we can connect it to in the cultural and societal landscape. Or it has to be kind of this ubiquitous thing, this super unignorable thing. That is the level, I think, that makes a trend newsworthy.

[00:06:08] BB: I imagine this is hard to get a pitch for. Do you ever get good pitches for something where you're like, “Oh, thank God a publicist sent me that.”?

[00:06:18] DT: I think that sometimes PR pitches are late. They're too late for me. I think a lot of people try to hop on an internet trend that I've either already covered, which that is a pet peeve of mine. If I’ve already covered it, I'm not going to cover it again.

[00:06:40] BB: Yes. Just to clarify, too, are people coming to you where, one, they just haven't at all read what you've written recently? That's very embarrassing. Or is it more, “Oh, hey. You know what, Daysia? You missed this part. Can you add my client in there?" Because it would just be — Is it more like, “Oh. Me, too.”?

[00:07:00] DT: I think it's both. I think it's more the first one where some people just don't maybe read my byline
first or check that I –

[00:07:12] BB: Which is basic. By the way, publicists, basic. Yes. Don’t do that.

[00:07:17] DT: Yes. I'll delete your email. I will because I find it to be a waste of time if you already didn't do that basic step, I think. That's not to be rude or anything. I don't really have too much time to respond to emails or go through them. So I go through them as quickly as possible. If you already reached out to me about something that I've done already, then I'm not super interested, unless you have an interesting source that maybe I could use for a future story. But that’s not often the case.

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Pitching Trends

[00:09:52] BB: Yes. What a fricking bummer, by the way. Not of any value. Okay. Let's turn that on its head. What would be the perfect pitch for you? What are the elements?

[00:10:05] DT: I don't typically – there has to be a lot of synergy going on for me to actually take a publicist or a comms person's exact pitch. As in I have to already be either thinking about pursuing it or actively pursuing it. Then you happen to get on that. That's only maybe happened once. Otherwise, pitches, I don't usually take pitches. I will consider interesting ones for future reference. I'll often get pitches about reports or data and things like that, and those are my favorite pitches. Those are the things that I just keep in my pocket for later.

[00:10:48] BB: Oh, data reports.

[00:10:50] DT: Other pitches, if I think that the source or the angle that you are proposing are interesting, I might keep you in mind for future reference, in case there's anything that actually pops up. The thing is you can't pitch me something out of the blue that's happening online. It’s not to say that if I've never heard of it or I haven't been seeing it, it's not newsworthy because everybody's algorithm is different, obviously.

[00:11:18] BB: Yes, yes. You're probably aware.

[00:11:21] DT: Yes. You kind of have to get to a level of where people online are talking about something, where I’ll be able to take that step forward and start reporting something out or even consider covering things. I'll get pitches about creators or people or companies or brands and things like that. That's not to say that what they're doing isn't interesting. It's just that there's not really a news peg to it or a reason for me to actually cover it.

[00:11:53] BB: Well, it's not trending.

[00:11:54] DT: Yes, it's not trending. Period. It's not trending.

[00:11:58] BB: Yes. I think that's the ultimate pitch protocol for you with anyone who wants to pitch you is like, “Is it trending?” “No.” “Okay, it's not.” If it's so obviously trending, you probably already know about it because this is the reporter who is doing this constantly, looking at what's bubbling up in the internet.

[00:12:17] DT: Yes. That's something that I was kind of thinking about in looking just kind of thinking about my inbox over the past couple of days. If you're going to pitch me –

[00:12:26] BB: I love that. You were like, “Let me think about my inbox before I get on the show."

[00:12:32] DT: If you have a good source for a trend or some sort of angle or resource that you can give me regarding a trend, you need to do so as soon as possible, like as soon as you see it because you might be too late by the time you email me. It's not even that maybe I have even published anything yet, but it might be that I'm already finishing a story. Or I'm already been assigned this story. Also, I don't love pitches that – I really respect this grind. Publicists, I do respect that if you have –

[00:13:04] BB: Yes. We got the grind.

[00:13:06] DT: Yes. If you are trying to push your niche, your creator or product angle into a viral thing that's honestly like not related to what people are actually talking about, I respect that you're trying to get on that wave. You're trying to get on that train. It’s just not going to be relevant to me. For instance, if there's a viral story time or a viral trend that's going on and, I don't know, you're trying to squeeze in this thing that people just aren't talking about, then I respect that you tried. But I probably won't cover it.

Rapid Fire Pitching Preferences

[00:18:39] BB: Hey, even more, even more. You can keep it going. Okay. Daysia, I have a little rapid-fire question session here for us. Are you ready to get into it?

[00:18:49] DT: Yes.

[00:18:50] BB: Okay. Video or phone interview?

[00:18:56] DT: I like video because I like you to see my face, although I think phone is more convenient.

[00:19:03] BB: Agreed. Bullet points or paragraphs in a pitch?

[00:19:06] DT: I actually like a short graph. Keep it short and sweet. If you can bold –

[00:19:13] BB: Three sentences with bolding.

[00:19:14] DT: Yes. If you can fold the big point or hyperlink the important point, then I think that would be ideal.

[00:19:25] BB: Images attached or a Dropbox zip file?

[00:19:29] DT: I don't love a zip. I do like an attachment that I could just see immediately.

[00:19:35] BB: Exactly. I want to know what's in there. I want to know what's in there. Yes. I don't like any links myself with like, “Download this.” No, I don't want to touch that. You never know.

[00:19:46] DT: If it comes from a company like a tech company.

[00:19:50] BB: Yes, legit. Yes, okay.

[00:19:51] DT: You never know. I'm aware of the assets instance. I'll click it. But I prefer to see it up front. I don't want to download, basically.

[00:20:02] BB: Yes. Email or XDM?

[00:20:05] DT: Oh, just email me because I don't. XDMs are hard now because you can't DM me. I need to follow you back. If I don't follow you back, then you're not going to reach me.

[00:20:16] BB: That’s too bad. I know.

[00:20:18] DT: Although I do like – I don't necessarily mind people reaching out to me on Instagram.

[00:20:23] BB: Oh, really? Okay.

[00:20:24] DT: But I might not see it.

[00:20:26] BB: Okay. All right. Good clarifying. One follow-up or multiple?

[00:20:30] DT: One.

[00:20:31] BB: Direct or creative subject lines?

[00:20:34] DT: Direct.

[00:20:35] BB: Press release or media kit?

[00:20:36] DT: Media kit.

[00:20:38] BB: What time, if there is one, that you read pictures?

[00:20:42] DT: I read pictures in the morning, usually. I try to do it when I log on.

[00:20:47] BB: ET-based, right?

[00:20:48] DT: Yes. Sometimes, I get a story straight away, so I have to just 

[00:20:53] BB: Oh, I see. You just got to plow through. Okay.

[00:20:56] DT: I have to do the story first, and then I'll check my email. Usually, I try to do it before noon.

[00:21:01] BB: Types of sources you'd love to get if any.

[00:21:08] DT: I love academics. I love creators.

[00:21:11] BB: You love data.

[00:21:14] DT: I love people who work with creators.

[00:21:17] BB: Got it. I know that's super broad.

[00:21:19] BB: Now, people who work with creatives like PR people or they represent them. They do hair and makeup. Clarify.

[00:21:26] DT: I think if you're closely tied to the inner workings of the creator economy, then feel free to reach out. I don't cover creator economy as much as I'd like to, but I still do. So I'm not going to cover every startup that exists there but talent agents or managers or influencer, marketing experts, things like that, people who are just working with creators and influencers on a regular basis. If you have some sort of expertise that you can communicate to me, then I will just keep you in mind for future stories.

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