PR Pros and AI Pitches: What Journalists Actually Want

Let's be honest, we've all received those emails that feel like they were written by someone who learned English from a corporate jargon dictionary. You know the ones—where every other word is "synergy" or "optimize" and you're left wondering if a human being even read it before hitting send. Well, journalists feel the exact same way about AI-generated PR pitches, and honestly? I don't blame them.

THE AWKWARD TRUTH ABOUT AI-GENERATED PITCHES

Here's a fun fact that might make you spit out your coffee: in a recent survey of nearly 1,700 reporters across print, digital, and broadcast media, a whopping 43% expressed negative opinions about AI-generated pitches. They described them as "reading like a bot wrote it," lacking perspective, and—this is the real kicker—eroding editorial trust.

As someone who's received plenty of copy-paste pitches that made me question if the sender even knew my name, I get where these journalists are coming from. There's nothing worse than feeling like you're just another checkbox on someone's outreach list, right next to "order more paper clips" and "water the office plant that's probably already dead."

But here's where it gets interesting. According to Global Results Communications' latest survey, 81% of reporters still consider pitches and relationships with PR professionals vital to their work. So it's not that they don't want to hear from you—they just want to hear from the actual you, not some AI approximation that sounds like it's trying too hard at a networking event.

AI ISN'T THE VILLAIN IN THIS STORY

Despite journalists' warranted skepticism, Valerie Christopherson, CEO and founder of GRC, believes AI is actually bringing PR back to its roots by enabling professionals to be more thoughtful and informed.

"When I started in PR, you had to know everything about the client and the journalist," she explained. "Somewhere along the way, speed took over. But AI is helping us slow down and think again."

It's kind of like when you finally get a dishwasher after years of washing everything by hand. You suddenly have all this extra time that you can use to, I don't know, develop a weird hobby or actually read those books you've been using as decorative furniture props. For PR pros, AI is freeing up time to focus on what really matters: building genuine relationships and crafting pitches that don't make journalists roll their eyes so hard they can see their own brain.

USING AI AS YOUR SOCIALLY AWKWARD BUT HELPFUL ASSISTANT

Christopherson's team uses AI as a thinking partner rather than letting it write the entire pitch—which, let's be real, would be like letting your cat plan your wedding. Sure, they're invested in the outcome, but they also might just knock everything off the table for no reason.

Here are five practical ways you can integrate AI into their media outreach while keeping your human voice front and center:

1. RESEARCH LIKE A SLIGHTLY OBSESSIVE EX (BUT PROFESSIONAL)

Before drafting a pitch, use AI tools to quickly summarize recent coverage on a topic, identifying trending themes and highlighting key reporters. "You can ask AI to pull the last five headlines about your client's industry," Christopherson said. "Then you read those pieces yourself to see what's missing. That's where your story fits."

It's like when you're trying to figure out what to bring to a potluck. You need to know what everyone else is bringing before you decide to make your signature dish, otherwise you might end up being the fifth person to bring mac and cheese. And while everyone loves mac and cheese, no one needs five different versions at one dinner.

2. TEST YOUR ANGLE BEFORE YOU EMBARRASS YOURSELF

Once you've found a hook, AI can help pressure-test whether it's timely or relevant. "I'll literally ask, 'Would this angle resonate with journalists covering tech policy?'" Christopherson shared.

This is basically the equivalent of texting your most brutally honest friend before sending that risky text to your crush. Sometimes you need someone to tell you, "No, that's not clever, that's weird and slightly concerning."

3. DRAFT FASTER, BUT EDIT LIKE YOUR REPUTATION DEPENDS ON IT (BECAUSE IT DOES)

AI can organize ideas into a structured draft or tighten messy language. GRC often uses it to rephrase technical jargon into plain language or brainstorm alternate headlines and subject lines.

"We'll test three subject lines with AI and see which one feels clearest," Christopherson explained. "But the human edit is everything. That's where tone and credibility come in."

It's like using a spell checker that occasionally suggests you meant to say "defenestration" when you typed "definition." Helpful? Sometimes. Needs supervision? Absolutely.

4. PERSONALIZE WITHOUT BEING CREEPY ABOUT IT

Instead of blasting the same email to 50 journalists (which is about as effective as shouting your crush's name from across a crowded room), AI can help tailor each pitch to the recipient's interests or tone.

"You can use AI to suggest an opening line based on a reporter's recent work," Christopherson advised. "But you must verify it. Never fake familiarity or cite a story they didn't write."

This is just common sense. It's like complimenting someone's haircut when they haven't changed their hair in years. Not only does it not work, but it immediately signals that you're not paying attention.

5. PREPARE FOR FOLLOW-UPS LIKE YOU'RE STUDYING FOR AN EXAM

If a journalist responds, AI can help summarize your client's key data points or generate FAQs so you're ready with concise, factual answers.

"It's great for prep work. But AI isn't going to replace you or your spokesperson in an interview. You can't let it replace your understanding of the story," Christopherson emphasized.

Think of it as creating cheat sheets before a big test. The cheat sheet helps you organize information, but you still need to understand the material. Otherwise, you're just reciting facts without comprehension, like a parrot with a business degree.

THE HUMAN TOUCH STILL MATTERS (THANK GOODNESS)

The bottom line, according to Christopherson, is that "We use AI to find where our client can contribute to the conversation, not dominate it. That's the difference between a pitch that lands and one that gets deleted."

In other words, AI should be the behind-the-scenes assistant that helps you shine, not the ventriloquist making your mouth move with words you don't understand. Because at the end of the day, journalists—like all of us—want to connect with actual humans who understand their needs and can provide real value.

So maybe AI isn't causing a credibility crisis after all—it's just giving us the tools to be more credible, as long as we remember that behind every pitch, there should be a real person who cares about getting it right.

Want to learn how Winsome Marketing can help your brand craft authentic media pitches that actually get responses? Contact our PR team today!