Insider tips from a WSJ vet

A few weeks ago I shared my interview with a 19-year-veteran of the Wall Street Journal with members of the Inner Circle. I grilled her about what Journal writers are looking for, and I showed her 12 actual pitches from members and recorded her real-time reactions, just like she was opening them in her email inbox.

One of the things that stood out to me was how big of a distinction the Journal places on beat writers compared to feature writers. The beat writers are typically focused on a specific industry, and usually even more narrowly focused on the major players in that industry.

Feature writers, like my guest, have more latitude. They are also organized around various subject areas, so they’ll show a “beat” in a media database, but they individually define those much more broadly than any database could depict. Yet another reason to regularly consume the content of your top media targets.

Here’s a useful rule of thumb to apply when pitching a features reporter at the Journal – or anywhere, for that matter, including top-tier broadcast. She said:

The pitches I was more likely to cover were ideas that were interesting enough and that hadn’t been done before, but weren’t unique enough that there was just one company in the whole world doing it.

One other thing she said surprised me – her voice grew pretty irritated when she talked about how PR reps would push back during fact-checking on minor details like the wording of an executive’s title or omitting a marketing position statement. She explained that sometimes she’d choose to cut a source from the story rather than go through the hassle of bargaining with what she felt were obstinate PR people. Didn’t surprise me that annoyed her – it surprised me that people would risk a positive WSJ mention over some minor semantics.

Two of the highlights were:

-the way she lit up when she saw a particular expert pitch and explained why it stood out to her versus several of the previous pitches I’d shown her

-the point where she referred to “a good stealth way to get into the Journal” that I hadn’t necessarily thought of before.

The video recording and the transcript of the entire interview aren’t available for sale anywhere. But you could be watching it or reading it within a day or two.  They’re already available to members of the Inner Circle 24/7, along with other similar interviews I’ve done with top-tier media who review members’ pitches, including:

– The Today show producer who liked one of the pitches so much that she took a crew out to shoot it

– The home-page editor for the Washington Post who shared counterintuitive insights about just how much the emphasis on web traffic has changed journalism

– The USA Today reporter who was extremely generous and encouraging at the same time she dissected pitches with precision, objectivity, and unrelentingly high standards

Those are just a few of the assets Inner Circle members are accessing right now.

Just last week, we updated the way we accept new members. You now have the opportunity to join right away. You just need to fill out a brief application so that we can manage the growth of the program and make sure it’s a good fit.

There’s so much more to the Inner Circle than I have time to share here. And it’s absolutely adaptable to your needs and availability. Most people are surprised at how affordable it is.

Go to this page now and review the opportunity, then click the button to apply.

I look forward to seeing you on the inside 🙂