I’m a journalist who once loved the nightlife. I began my Phoenix career as a night shift and weekend reporter. My nightshift stories typically took the theme of breaking news. The weekends often were efforts to find any news that seemed credible to cover.
When I moved to a day shift, I transitioned to stories that allowed me a little more time to explore the details of an issue. And the morning show, which I occasionally contributed to, often focused their coverage on different types of headlines.
When preparing pitches to reporters, consider their shifts. Their shift, even the particular day he or she is working, can impact the positive or negative position taken on a pitch.
True, even if you pitch to the wrong shift on the wrong day, your idea might be reborn or redirected to a more appropriate time slot. But I know from personal experience that story ideas seem to hold their most value the first time you pitch them. After that, some newsrooms view the ideas as retreads that aren’t as interesting as the latest thoughts at the table. The idea fails to gain further traction. You might as well make your first move the best move possible.