Pitch Me: Keith Yaskin

By on July 6th, 2010 In Media, People

keithyaskinName: Keith Yaskin
Title: Reporter
Outlet: Fox10 News
Phone: 602-262-0457
Email: keithyaskin@gmail.com

1. What are your main daily duties? I split my time between special projects and general assignment (GA) reporting. GA stories air the day we shoot them. They typically air about a minute ten seconds. We usually shoot special project stories over several days. They are several minutes long during our 9pm newscast. Those stories are scheduled weeks into the future and get more promotion. In both cases, I write the stories, building them by watching all the video.

2. What kinds of stories are you looking for? I’ve always liked investigative stories or ones which require in-depth research, but I cover just about any topic. In fact, some of my best stories over the years have been features. But entertainment-type stories are not my thing.

3. What’s the best way to approach you with a pitch? Approach me by email, Twitter, Facebook or phone. Any of those methods are fine, except I find myself enjoying Twitter more than anything these days. Try to keep it short and sweet without attachments, although good pictures or video always make me take a closer look. My rule of thumb is if the pitch is worth covering on the news, you can probably grab my attention in just a few words.

4. What recommendations do you have for PR professionals? My biggest challenge with PR pros is too often they don’t think beyond the interviews with their clients. A client interview alone typically isn’t strong enough to make a good story. I need a second interview with someone viewers can relate to. If you’re going to pitch me a story about Yoga, find me a soccer mom taking part, not just your client the instructor. If you’re going to pitch me a story about whooping cough, find me a family who’s suffering from it, not just your client the doctor. If you’re going to pitch me a story about identity theft, find me a victim, not just your client the tech expert.

Another challenge: A lot of PR pros don’t think visually. Good TV stories include action and lots of audio. Get your client up and doing something. Take me to the factory floor. Show me the chef cooking back in the kitchen. Invite me over when your client has something to do, not when he or she is simply free.

Please don’t pitch me a story our competitors just aired. Even after we shoot the story, please don’t pitch it to our competitors before we air it.

5. What’s the strangest/weirdest pitch you’ve ever received? Someone just pitched me on LA Fashion Week. Wrong city for me. Wrong topic for me. I think for some people, they just find my name somewhere and for them, it’s like throwing darts.

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