Newsjacking: how to do it well

Newsjacking is adding your expert view to a story already in the news, so a journalist has a reason to include you. It works when you're relevant, fast and useful, and backfires when it's opportunistic or insensitive.

What newsjacking is

Newsjacking is responding to a live news story with something useful from your own field. The story supplies the attention. You supply the angle a journalist doesn't already have.

Done well, it's just being helpful at the right moment. Done badly, it looks like a business exploiting the news.

When it works

• The story is genuinely about your field
• You know something firsthand that the coverage lacks
• You can reply within hours, not days
• Your point helps readers understand or act

A test before you jump in

1. Is this connected to what I actually do? If you have to stretch, skip it.
2. Do I add something new? If the point has been made, skip it.
3. Is anyone hurt by this story? If it involves a tragedy or loss, stay out unless you're directly relevant and can be useful.
4. Can I be quick and accurate? A late or wrong response does harm.

Not every story needs your opinion. The right one does. Skipping is often the right call.

How to do it, step by step

1. Watch the news in your field each morning, before the story peaks.
2. Check what's already been said. Find the gap.
3. Write your angle in two or three sentences.
4. Find the journalist who wrote the story and pitch them directly.
5. Offer something concrete: a comment, a fact or a short piece.
6. Be available to follow up the same day.

A pitch shape that works

• Subject: a plain line naming the story and your angle
• First line: reference their article and what it missed
• The point: your angle in a few sentences
• The proof: why you can speak on it
• The ask: offer a quote or a short call today

A worked example

Say interest rates change and you run a small mortgage brokerage. The obvious response is a generic comment on rates, which every commentator will make. The useful one is narrower: what the change means for first-time buyers who are about to renew a fixed term, with one concrete example from your own clients (with their permission and no names).

That version gives a journalist something new, from someone with proof, and it is easy to quote. Pitch it to the person who wrote the story, within hours.

Newsjacking on your own channels

You can also comment on your own site or social accounts. That's owned media, and it's fine, but it doesn't earn you coverage. For that you need a journalist to choose to include you, which is why the pitch matters more than the post.

Mistakes to avoid

• Forcing a link between an unrelated story and your product
• Joking about serious events
• Pushing a sales message instead of a view
• Posting first and thinking later
• Making claims you can't support

Speed matters, but so does judgment

Timing is the whole game. A response an hour after a story breaks can be useful, and the same email a week later is noise. But speed without judgment is how businesses get burned. Check your facts and your tone before you send.

How EarnedDesk helps

EarnedDesk reads the news each morning and gives you five ideas, each with an honest verdict of yes, maybe or not this one. Ideas are checked against commentary already published, so you can see whether you'd be adding something new. You also see the journalist who wrote the story. Drafts writes an editable pitch and you send it yourself.