Jabari Young, senior writer and editor at Forbes, specializing in the editorial lead of ForbesBLK.
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Mikhaila Friel is a senior reporter for Business Insider.
During the episode, Mikhaila discusses her shifting roles at Business Insider, what pitches she's open to,
her tips on researching who you're pitching, and the story approval process.
Follow Mikhaila on LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
Click below to listen to the full conversation and read below for highlights from the interview:
The Importance of Understanding a Publication's Audience
[00:05:18] BB: Okay. Mikhaila, let's talk about now your inbox. How is it and what is in
there?
[00:05:23] MF: Yes. My inbox is pretty busy, but I have to admit a lot of the pitches are not for
me. A lot of the PRs really don't understand my coverage, and I don't blame them because it is
such a mixed bag. But, yes, a lot of what I'm receiving is just stuff that would be a straight no.
Just looking at even just the subject line, it’s just, yes, there's a lot of stuff that wouldn't be
relevant to me or even to the company.
[00:05:51] BB: How do you know, by the way? You're like, “It's totally not relevant.”
[00:05:55] MF: Yes. There are a couple of ways. I think people might be confused because
while I'm a British journalist, Business Insider is not a British publication. Our main audience, of
course, we have readers from around the world, but we cater to an American audience. If I have
a pitch that is something particular to a UK news story or a UK company, I'm not able to go
ahead with it, unless I can see an angle that our US readers would love. That's a really big
thing.
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Pitches From Those With Unique Stories and Worldviews
[00:10:51] BB: Source-wise, is there anyone? You're kind of alluding to it with what you were just
asking for kind of story or pitch-wise. But is there a certain person or expert you wish to hear from?
[00:11:03] MF: I would say there's no one in particular, but I love pitching things that are a little
bit different. I love hearing from people with unique stories and worldviews. Even if you don't
think that if you're not a particular expert in any of the things I've mentioned, if you have a story
to tell and you think that Business Insider or myself would be the best person to tell that story,
we do a lot of personal essays, as told to. I'm always interested to hear about if it's something
that really wows me or shocks or inspires me. That's always great. I know that's quite broad, but
it's just yes.
[00:11:43] BB: Wows or shocks or inspires me. Yes. Oh, I like that. I would love an email where
I'm like, “Oh, that wows me. Yes.” I like that.
Mikhaila's Insight On Editor Approval
[00:12:43] BB: We haven't talked about this too much on other shows, but I want to start
bringing this into the fold. Publicists, of course, understand, although I think we painfully
understand sometimes how long it takes to get an actual story done. There have been months,
for example, that people at BAM have waited for something to materialize. Why? Because of
scheduling, because of interviews, because it's not a breaking thing but it's an important thing.
It's eventually happening. Could you tell us a little bit about maybe the story approval process?
[00:13:15] MF: Yes. How I get stories approved from my editors, the process is quite simple. I'll
give them a working headline, a little summary of the story that I'm hoping to write. Then I will
include a couple of experts that I'd love to interview. Or if I don't have the experts, I'll just say
that that will come later. Usually, it's pretty – if it's a straightforward news story or a short feature,
so anything between 500 and 700 words, that could be approved quite quickly on the day that I
pitch it.
But if it's a bigger feature and there's more conversations to be had, especially if it's something
that maybe wasn't my original idea but a PR has come to me, then that's something that would
take a little bit more time and just few more conversations and just trying to figure out what the
right angle would be. Maybe I have an idea, but my editor has something else in their mind. We
go back and forth for a little while just discussing that.
Rapid Fire Pitching Preferences
[00:15:48] BB: Okay. She likes to be in person if you can. Okay. I like it. We covered kind of the
story approval time, Mikhaila. We covered the relationship-building sources a little bit. I have this
rapid-fire question series if you want to play. Are you ready?
[00:16:06] MF: Sure.
[00:16:06] BB: Let's do it. Video or phone interview?
[00:16:10] MF: Video.
[00:16:10] BB: Oh. This one always surprises me. Why video?
[00:16:14] MF: Well, as long as I'm having a good hair day, I love video just for that face-to-face
connection.
[00:16:21] BB: Yes. Then you could see so much more. Bullet points or paragraphs in a pitch?
[00:16:26] MF: Bullet points.
[00:16:28] BB: Short or long pitches? I assume short.
[00:16:30] MF: Yes, short.
[00:16:32] BB: How short, by the way?
[00:16:33] MF: One that I just got recently.
[00:16:35] BB: Yes. Oh, tell us an example. Yes.
[00:16:38] MF: It was actually just before this call, like an hour ago. I wrote a story last week
about Gen Z and Millennial brides that have tattoo regret. This PR just said, “Tattoo regret, new
data. I saw your story, and this is who I represent, and this is why it's relevant.” I won't go into it,
but the pitch was two sentences, and that's ideal. It just allows me to see, okay, is that what I
want to look into more? If so, I will reply and we will forge a relationship pretty easy.
[00:17:14] BB: Okay. This is good. Images attached or Dropbox zip file?
[00:17:19] MF: It really depends. I don't mind images being attached. I think maybe it will make
the pitch stand out a little bit if it needs.
[00:17:25] BB: Okay. Email only or any DMs for pitches?
[00:17:31] MF: Oh, just email please.
[00:17:33] BB: Yes. This is like 98%. I hope everyone understands this. Publicists, please no
DMs anywhere. I think we've had like one or two people say yes. Very, very rare. Okay. One
follow-up or multiple?
[00:17:45] MF: I don't mind multiple. Sometimes, I have so many emails that I might just miss it.
It’s good to just keep following up, and I don't mind that all.
[00:17:53] BB: Yes, good. Direct or creative subject lines? We talked a little bit about it.
[00:17:58] MF: Yes. I think direct.
[00:17:59] BB: Direct, direct. By the way, do you want to see, because most people say direct
and now I want to get a little bit more specific in that, do you want to see your name in the
subject line? Do you want to see exclusive spelled out? Do you want to see the name of the
person, let's say celebrity, or the hotel or something? How direct-specific are you looking for? Of
course, it's limited because you can't spell out a 20-word subject line.
[00:18:26] MF: Yes. I mean, there's been a few instances where they've used my name in the
subject, and that has really grabbed my attention. Overall, I think what you said about if it's a
celebrity or something really specific, it's good to just get straight to the point. Or as I mentioned,
if it's referencing a story of mine and they're pitching me because they've read my work and they
know that it's relevant, then if you put the story in the subject line, even just a little portion of the
headline, that will grab my attention because I've seen that they have read my work. I instantly
feel a bit more of a connection to them because I know that they understand what I write.
[00:19:07] BB: Which is just how many seconds does it take just to do that extra little work.
That's nice. By the way, do people misspell your name?
[00:19:14] MF: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. But I don't mind because my name is really confusing. It's not
the standard.
[00:19:21] BB: That is very generous of you, but that is one of the biggest pet peeves, and
you're like, “That's not how my name is.” Or worst off, blank. Hi, blank. You're like, “Oh, God.”
That's the worst. Okay. Press release or media kit?
[00:19:36] MF: Media kit I think.
[00:19:38] BB: We already covered time that you read pitches, so we're good there. We already
covered sources. Is there anything else, Mikhaila, that would just make your life easier from
publicists?
[00:19:49] MF: I think that I have really mentioned the main points. But, yes, I just can't
emphasize enough how important it is to know who you're pitching to because I get so many
things that aren't relevant. I get people pitching me tech stories. Of course, BI is a tech
publication, but I do not cover tech. Or if I do it, it will be very, very rarely. Just do your research.
Know who you're writing to. It’s really – yes, it's the biggest thing for me is for some reason now
I have the most random pitches in my inbox, and I don't know how this happened. Yes. It can be
frustrating to get to the good ones when you've got so many things that are not relevant.
________
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