Get Known: A podcast with something other than Coronavirus news.
In this episode, we had the pleasure of talking with Charlotte Jee from MIT Technology Review. Charlotte is a UK-based journalist responsible for the Tech Review’s newsletter “The Download.” She also writes news and features for the publication.
We started talking about the worst pitch she most recently heard, which was about using AI to analyze “poo”. As she explains, although it sounded interesting, it did not really stand up with substance. Lesson learned: the subject line has to be supported by substance in the rest of the pitch.
Other takeaways include:
- Genuine first-time news is interesting, but you have to step back from your own company and understand the truth.
- Magic words don’t work (i.e. AI only if you really do AI).
- Human stories are important in tech.
- She is into tips and research rather than full-blown pitches.
- Diversity, impact, and mental health in tech are really interesting.
- Best advice: get to know the journalist before you pitch and be helpful. Have a longer view in mind.
- Companies should understand that some features will take 6 months to create. Not everything takes that long, but for features, sometimes it takes months and potentially a year. But others take a week. It all depends on whether the topic merits in-depth reporting.
Click below to listen to the full Get Known podcast episode with Charlotte Jee from MIT Technology Review.
We hope you enjoy the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to steve@sanfrancisco.fi or tweet us at @SF_Agency!
