How many people actually understand what newsworthy means?
If earned media is the gold standard for building trust, then the last thing anyone wants to do is burn bridges with the very people who can offer it to you.
A bad interview (or even worse, a boring interview) may see you removed from the journalist’s Christmas card list. Even worse, relentless email pitches to journalists on incremental gains or marginal opinions turn you into white noise. The delete button is very easy to hit on unread emails.
The trick is understanding what would be considered a good time investment for the journalist and making an adult decision as to whether you can deliver on that promise.
That does not mean there is not validity in what you have to say. It is just finding the right vehicle to take that message to the audience.
Sometimes it might be to pitch, sometimes it might be better to produce something for your own channels, sometimes it might be better to move on to something else.
What qualifies as newsworthy?
To answer the Ultimate Question to Narrative, Noise and Everything, we sat down with Iain Morris, International Editor for Light Reading, picking apart the various different types of pitches to understand what genuinely qualifies as newsworthy.
And what better place to do it than the Leather Bottle in Earlsfield.
Iain's view I think most case studies tend not to be especially interesting to journalists. One exception is when they are examples of how very new technology could be used – for instance, if they prove a need for GPUs in the radio access network – or point to an important new trend. Reporters might also be interested to learn about anything that is having a significant impact on financial performance, of course.
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Our view Use cases are incredibly valuable for engaging prospects, but this should not be confused with general interest. Journalists do not want sales materials, they want insight. Use cases can be used as supporting materials to a pitch, but it shouldn't be the pitch itself.
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Verdict Keep Use Cases on the own channels and amplify through social to specific audiences. These are evergreen assets which can support numerous other activities and are an important part of the sales funnel.
Iain's view I rate this one quite highly with a few caveats. Obviously, the more senior the executive, the better. Same goes for how attention grabbing the issue happens to be. And if the view is somewhat counterintuitive or unusual, even better. Jensen Huang telling you he thinks the AI bubble is about to burst– as unlikely as that would be – would be great.
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Our view Industry commentary is incredibly valuable assuming two things. Firstly, you are timely with your thoughts, and secondly, there is unique value in what you are saying
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Verdict Only approach media with novel or differentiated opinions. The bar is very high here. Journalists are contacted with commentary constantly so if you can't differentiate, it won't be included in an article. That said, your opinion will matter to your customers regardless, so tell them through other channels
Iain’s view I'm a little on the fence on this one as I think it depends on the seniority of the appointment and just how significant it is. But, in principle, news a big company is replacing a CEO gets my attention,
especially if the replacement has things to say about a shakeup.
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Our view There are very few appointments outside the CEO or CTO office in the telecoms and technology industry which would warrant an announcement to media. Just because it is important to your company, doesn't mean it is important to anyone else
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Verdict Keep these almost exclusively to the own channels. Executive interviews or profile pieces are an excellent way to help your customers get to know executives, but there isn't much value to external audiences otherwise
Iain’s view These announcements generate interest if we’re talking about a new customer, I would say, rather than just a new contract, and especially if a significant amount of money is involved and the gain represents a loss for someone else. A great example would be the 5G deal Samsung did with Verizon a few years ago – a move that meant it would stop using Nokia (with nasty consequences for the Finnish vendor).
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Our view If a customer win is not going to materially show up on the financial spreadsheets, it probably isn't of value to media - these need to be significant wins. It can certainly be used in combination with another pitch to media, but standalone value is usually pretty low
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Verdict Customer wins demonstrate momentum and trust in your brand, regardless of the size or how niche it is. Media are unlikely to cover the majority of customer wins sent to them, but this is an excellent example of how the owned/social pairing can engage customers and move them through the sales funnel. Customer wins incrementally build more trust, so the more the better, but these probably need to be present rather than shouted about
Iain’s view Quite low on my list and usually gets dropped into the "if there's nothing else to report" in-tray on the desk. I might be inspired to have a look if I've got some kind of exclusive or it's an area that I cover extensively.
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Our view Really difficult to make this newsworthy as it is effectively marketing materials.
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Verdict This sort of information is valuable to existing customers so use the channels which are available. Publish information on your website and reach out to your customers through sales teams and account managers, social media or newsletters. This one is very much about taking the approach which best suits the audience and it is rarely the media
Iain’s view Certainly more interesting than a product upgrade but still usually not as interesting as other types of announcement. The exception would be when a product launch matters strategically by taking the company into a new area or deviating from the earlier approach – or perhaps by signifying something about the market's development.
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Our view This is another example of people misunderstanding the difference between what is important to them, and what other people consider important. The question we would focus on is whether this is genuinely novel - if not, it is unlikely to be of interest to the media
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Verdict This is a judgment call which people often get wrong. There are instances where this would be of interest to media, but not many. However, it will still be of interest to the right audiences. Publishing on the own channels and then using that link to direct those audiences to the right place (and thus, entering the sales funnel on your domain) is the best approach.
Iain’s view I like these more than I expect some reporters do because I'm into numbers and hard data, but I think it depends on the story they are telling. Ericsson's mobility reports are not especially newsworthy unless they highlight a surprising development, for instance.
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Our view Data is gold for storytelling. Good quality insight can be used over and over, and provide credibility for any statement. This should be prioritized by any company. However, not every journalist likes data unless it proves something bigger - the data isn't the story, it proves your narrative.
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Verdict Does the data have a novel point and demonstrate real-world impact? If yes, the media will likely be interested, but you have to elevate the story. However, this should not be a binary decision - data stories can be told in so many different ways. If you have data and are not producing content for your own channels, you are missing out on a significant opportunity. Data can be incorporated into media pitches, it could be the backbone of an executive viewpoint, it could be the teaser on social media posts. It is so useful and makes every channel work harder
Iain’s view This one floats my boat, I have to say. A lot of this stuff as and when it concerns companies and startups that look important is what attracts readers to trade publications, in my view. It’s exactly what companies should be pitching.
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Our view Investment stories show the company is expanding - it has to be pitched to media, but be wary of the size of the investment. It might be a lot of money to you, but national media might think differently.
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Verdict Almost certainly pitch this to media, but the effort shouldn't stop there. The own channels enable you to tell the niche details of the story for months. This is certainly a case where every channel is considered and utilized in parallel. If the earned pitch is the starting gun, the owned channels give legs throughout the race. Good stories don't have to be a one-off effort, but to give a solid narrative a longer shelf-life you have to think owned after earned.
Iain's view I think the newsworthiness of this one varies dramatically depending on context – more than many of the other types of pitch. Details of the Nokia partnership with Nvidia were arguably the most interesting mobile network development of 2025. But a few operators joining another association that seems to be doing what older associations were trying to do? Far less compelling.
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Our view This is another example of companies misunderstanding the difference between important to them, and important to everyone else. Unless a partnership is going to have an impact on share price, don't bother media with it.
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Verdict Partnerships certainly demonstrate growth and evolution of a company. It is the sort of incremental development which is important over time, therefore there is value on the own channels. It would be very rare this would qualify as newsworthy to a generalist audience.
Iain’s view: For titles that track this topic, pitches like this are right up there on the newsworthiness scale. Most of them tend not to be of huge significance but there are clear cases where I would prioritize, such as when the UK government (among others) was working to restrict Huawei a few years ago.
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Our view: We're a bit more positive on this one, but realistically, it will generally be background chats with media. It is of course very useful for media to know your views on the policy landscape, but it is rare to see these pitches written into standalone stories. It would have to be a significant change, or a very punchy opinion to turn heads.
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Verdict Opinions on the regulatory landscape are a good example of genuine thought leadership if you have something interesting and novel to say. This doesn't necessarily translate to success in earned, but it adds significant value to enhancing your reputation. Executive viewpoints on the company's website are perfect here, especially if you have some budget to amplify over social channels. An executive who wants to have an opinion on how to evolve the regulatory landscape for the better of the company and its customers is a very interesting lever to pull. Write blogs, do industry and economic analysis and get them in front of a camera - this could be very powerful for corporate reputation and potentially for GEO
Iain’s view: Super newsworthy, to me, just as the investment pitch is. All these listed developments are hot topics for industry people and exclusives on M&A activities, divestments etc. form the meat of the classic scoop from the perspective of both trade publications and the mainstream press, I would vouch.
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Our view Completely agree with Iain - this is the perfect pitch for media, especially if you can translate it to real world benefits. This is the sort of pitch which makes use cases much more relevant to media when you pair it with the right corporate development story
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Verdict Corporate developments are massive for the business and the media which follows them. It should never be an earned versus owned question here - you should use every tool which is available to you. Earned drives credibility, owned provides the ability to tell the story in its entirety in your own voice, while social and paid provides amplification and scale to take the story everywhere
Iain’s view: Has almost zero newsworthiness in my opinion. I would caveat that by saying that rankings of operators, vendors and countries on performance and coverage metrics, as produced by Ookla, the FTTH Council etc, are interesting even if I wouldn't generally write headlines about them but instead look to incorporate into features and other news.
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Our view These stories are very self-serving and generally offer little value to a more generalist audience. Might be useful as background for the journalist, but perhaps more appropriate to incorporate any award wins into other pitches
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Verdict This is not one for media, but should definitely be a piece of content for the owned channels and social media. This is an opportunity to shout about how good your employees are and call out company heroes specifically. Very much a case of picking the right channel for the right piece of content
Iain’s view: I almost never bother to cover telco results these days as they typically don't tell a story and show marginal changes in such a mature market. Again, there are exceptions in some markets and when operators are engaged in strategic initiatives such as the rollout of fiber by BT, which is demanding a huge amount of investment. The squeeze that vendors are experiencing in mobile and the AI-related opportunity that exists in optical make them a juicier news story.
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Our view This is very much a marmite situation. Some media love financial results, some don't. It should certainly be sent to media, but generally speaking it is very difficult to form a narrative out of numbers. Most companies expect the media to do the hard work, which is a risk. Media won't be nice because you want them to. You have to form a solid narrative in the pitch, which most companies do not do.
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Verdict Financial results should always be sent to media, but they should always be paired with owned content and amplified through social channels. Owned let's you tell the story to its fullest, picking up the details which might not be incorporated into earned coverage (the journalist might not actually agree with your spin on the numbers). Financial results should always be presented to audiences as a content package, utilizing every channel
