“Why Now?”: The question that guides every great pitch
The latest Writer's Insight with award-winning journalist Tina Mehnpaine.
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Writer’s Insight: Tina Mehnpaine
Tina Mehnpaine is an award-winning Liberian journalist and a member of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. Her work has been featured in Unbias The News, GAVI, SciDev.Net, International Women’s Media Foundation, African Women in Media, and Daily Observer Newspaper.
Specializing in environmental and climate reporting, she brings a sharp investigative lens to pressing global issues. She is also the producer of The Content, a weekly newsletter dedicated to insightful storytelling.
You can see more from Tina or get in touch via LinkedIn, Twitter/X or Bluesky.
You’ve reported on climate, health, environment, and gender equality with bylines in both local and international outlets. How do you decide which stories need to be told and how to frame them for different audiences?
My approach to pitching varies depending on what is happening around me, whether it’s a grant application or an editor pitch. Key factors include a prior interest in the topic, the audience's interest, and the media outlet's location and goal. Audiences' demographics, age, sex, and status.
For instance, when pitching to a U.S.-based media outlet, I research current trends and what the audience wants to read. Or I just look for a general theme that international audiences are interested in. For example, a lot of U.S. readers are eager to know about the impact of USAID aid cuts on countries that heavily relied on U.S. support. How that is affecting US foreign policies. A lot of international audiences are interested in culture, food, lifestyle, and history. People are eager to read and know the facts, especially from in-house country reporters.
Your membership in the Oxford Climate Journalism Network and the KAS Local Journalism initiative gives you access to a global community. How have these networks influenced your reporting approach or opened new opportunities for you?
Certainly, these platforms have exposed me to significant opportunities. From collaborations and now a newsletter to podcast invitations for sharing my knowledge and experience, these platforms have had and continue to have a considerable impact on my career.
Beyond the knowledge gained from the Oxford Climate Journalism Network's six-month online training, I've also been able to connect and interact with reporters from various countries, almost like face-to-face interactions. Reading their reports and following their work has provided valuable insights into how this issue is being reported globally, which has greatly benefited my own work.
Find out more about the Oxford Climate Journalism Network here.
Has your experience pitching to a range of publications revealed any patterns or signals you now look for when shaping a pitch?
Yes, one pattern that I have seen throughout is “the media outlet’s interest and the editor’s interest.” If the pitch resonates with the editor’s personal interest, he/she is likely to advocate for the media institution to take the pitch; if the pitch resonates with the media institution’s interest, then it’s a goal for you.
So, how do you find out the interests? Google the editor personally, follow their social media handles (Twitter, LinkedIn, and Bluesky), and read their comments on posts made. Lastly, search what has been reported by that media institution about the topic. Is it something already covered? Getting all of this information has been helpful to me.
When you pitch, do you tailor your approach depending on whether it's a global outlet or a regional one? What do you prioritise to get a pitch noticed, and what do you think is important for every great pitch?
The urgency of the issue/topic is what I prioritized the most when pitching. As every freelancer is aware, editors are so busy but always have an interest in Why Now. Why does this matter now? Convincing an editor why this issue matters now will be a great help.
Rejection is part of freelancing, especially for writers not based in the same country as the publication. How do you handle silence or a no from editors, and what’s helped you stay persistent?
Before beginning my freelance journey, I didn’t plan for rejection. I had no strategy; all I knew was I wanted to work, grow, and develop myself. But rejection has been one of the sad parts of my job, especially for someone like me who faced it during childhood. Every time I get a no, I am afraid we can’t move forward with this from an editor, I break down emotionally.
My strategies have been self-encouragement and my passion for the work I do. Before now, I used to pitch only to an editor; nowadays I pitch to more than two to three editors. So if one gets rejected, it is likely to get approved by the other.
Between reporting, fact-checking, and pitching, how do you manage your time and energy? Do you have any strategies for balancing deep reporting with the business side of freelancing?
My strategies have been setting days for pitching. So if I am not pitching, I am fact-checking. If I submit a pitch to an editor, I use the waiting to get a response from an editor to work on a fact-check report.
For early-career journalists in Africa (or anywhere worldwide) who want to break into international reporting on climate or health, what’s something you wish more people knew before they started? What advice would you give to someone pitching for the first time?
Prepare for silence and rejection. Delayed payment. Editors will likely put a deadline on the story, but they don’t put a deadline on payment. It’s not a yes until the story is published with a link. You can get a go-ahead or approval from an editor, and you don’t get a response when you submit a draft. That editor might even be sacked or replaced by the media institution.
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I love how straight forward Tina was, very insightful!