The community test your pitch is failing

The new State of Journalism report from Muck Rack reveals a gap that should grab every pitching pro’s attention:

When asked what makes a pitch feel relevant – not just to their beat, but to their audience – 78 percent of journalists said it needs to directly affect the community their outlet serves.

Now here's the great opportunity: Only 16 percent of journalists say PR pitches usually demonstrate awareness of the community their outlet serves. Forty-four percent say it seldom happens. Seven percent say never.

That's a massive gap between what journalists want and what PR pros deliver.

Many PR pros are doing enough homework to identify the right reporter, but not enough to identify the people that reporter is accountable to.

That is a more important distinction than it may sound.

I previously wrote that we now live in a media environment made up of smaller, more distinct “bubbles.” By that I meant that even when two outlets appear to cover the same topic, they are often speaking to different tribes, anxieties, priorities, and assumptions. The surface-level beat may look identical. The underlying audience is not.

That is why “pitch the healthcare reporter” is often too crude to be useful.

“Healthcare” is just a beat.

The real community may be rural patients, burned-out nurses, parents of kids with special needs, or seniors trying to navigate Medicare.

“Retail” is just a beat.

The real community may be bargain-hunting families, luxury shoppers, franchise owners, or hourly workers.

Here's a simple community-relevance check you can run on your next pitch:

Before you hit send, answer these three questions:

Who is this outlet's core audience? Not “business leaders” or “consumers.” Get specific. What city, what industry, what job title, what stage of life?

How does my story directly affect those people? If you can't draw a straight line from your news to the audience's daily reality, keep working it.

Does my pitch make that connection explicit? Don't make the journalist figure it out. Say it plainly: “Your readers in [market/community] are dealing with [specific issue]. Here's how this affects them.”

This is different from beat targeting. Beat targeting asks: “Does this reporter cover my topic?” Community targeting asks: “Will this reporter's audience be better off for knowing this?”

The three-quarters of journalists who told Muck Rack they want community relevance are handing you a blueprint to stand out.

Check out the full State of Journalism 2026 report.

I'm a brand ambassador for Muck Rack, but I’m not compensated for this message. I believe this report is essential reading for every PR pro who pitches media.