Reporters and editors are like those elusive crushes you had in high school. You try to communicate with them every once in a while, but they just won’t give you the time of day. That is, unless they want something from you.

Your high school crush may have wanted help with homework – or worse – to cheat off you during a test. Reporters and editors have similarly selfish intentions. They’ll want your information if it’s A. truly newsworthy — a scoop they can put on page one and one-up the competition; or B. something that’s going to fill their news “hole.”

Feeding the monster
Depending on their editorial cycle, reporters and editors feel the pressure every day, week or month to fill their pages with print. Pitch them at the right time, and – as long as the story is substantive, interesting and not overly promotional – they just might bite. As precious as they are, these opportunities, however, tend to be few and far between. More often, you’ll feel as if you’re pitching to a vacuum.

If not now - sometime
Don’t despair. Though reporters or editors may not respond right away, their silence doesn’t mean they haven’t filed away your idea on their computers – or, more likely, in their heads – as a possible future story. So keep the pitches coming. A constant stream – but not bombardment – of relevant information is the only way to cement your company in the minds of the media.