Most pitches fail before they are opened. The subject line says nothing, the release is a page of adjectives, and the story is that a company exists and would like to be written about. Gulf newsrooms are no different from anywhere else in this: they are busy, often lean, and receive far more than they can use.
What follows is general newsroom practice, the kind most editors would recognise, adapted for a market that works in two languages and two working weeks. It does not replace knowing the individual journalist, which is still the most valuable thing a PR team has.
Find the story before you write the release
A launch, an appointment or an opening is an event, not a story. The story is why it matters to that outlet's readers: what changes for them, what is new in the market, what figure or example makes it concrete. If you cannot say it in one sentence to a friend, the journalist will not be able to say it to their editor.
Different outlets want different stories from the same news. A business desk wants the market and the numbers, a lifestyle title wants the experience, and a trade publication wants the detail nobody else would print. One release sent unchanged to all three is usually wrong for all three.
Pitch the person, not the list
Read what the journalist has written recently before you write to them. Check their beat, their language and whether they are still at the outlet, because people move often, and a pitch to someone who left six months ago tells the newsroom you did not look.
Keep the pitch short. The subject line should carry the story, not just the brand name. The first two lines should say what is new and why their readers would care. Then offer what makes it easy to use: a spokesperson available for interview, images, data, or a customer willing to talk.
Arabic and English are two versions, not one
Arabic and English outlets serve different readers and often look for different angles, so treat the two versions as separate pieces of writing. A literal translation of an English release reads as a translation, and an Arabic desk will notice immediately. Have the Arabic written, or at least edited, by a native writer who understands the register the outlet uses.
Names, titles and figures must match exactly across both. Decide how the company and the spokesperson's name are written in Arabic before anything goes out, and use that spelling every time. If the spokesperson can only give interviews in one language, say so at the start rather than letting a journalist discover it when the call is booked.
Timing is part of the pitch
The working week decides when a pitch is read. The UAE works Monday to Friday, with many offices finishing early on Friday. Saudi Arabia works Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday as the weekend. A release sent on a Friday afternoon to a Dubai desk lands in the weekend, and a Sunday pitch arrives on a working day in Riyadh but not in Dubai.
Early in the working day is generally safer than late, and a story tied to a date needs to reach journalists well before it, not on the morning itself. Monthly and print titles work to much longer lead times than daily news, so seasonal stories need to go out early. Ramadan, Eid and the national days change both the news agenda and the working day, and are worth planning around deliberately rather than colliding with by accident.
Embargoes and exclusives
An embargo asks a journalist not to publish before a set time, so they can prepare a fuller story. It is a request, not a contract, and it works because both sides keep their word. State the date, the time and the time zone clearly at the top, for example embargoed until 9am UAE time on a named date, and make sure every version, the Arabic included, carries the same line.
Only embargo news that genuinely benefits from preparation, and only send it to people you trust to respect it. An exclusive is different: one outlet gets the story first, in exchange for running it properly. Offer it to one outlet at a time, say clearly that it is exclusive, and wait for an answer before offering it elsewhere. Offering the same exclusive to two outlets is the fastest way to lose both.
Make the release easy to use
A journalist working to a deadline will use the release that needs least work. That means facts before adjectives, a quote that says something a person would actually say, and the essential details in the first paragraph: what, who, where and when.
- Put the release in the body of the email, not only in an attachment.
- Link to high resolution images with captions in both languages, rather than attaching large files.
- Include a contact who will answer the phone on the day, during the journalist's working hours.
- Keep the boilerplate about the company to a few lines at the end.
Follow up once, and make it useful
One follow up, a few days later, is reasonable, and it should add something: a new detail, an image, the offer of an interview. Asking whether they received the email does not add anything. If there is still no reply, move on, and note it for next time.
The pitch that gets a reply is rarely the cleverest one. It is the one that made a busy person's job easier that afternoon.
Noting it is where most PR teams lose ground. Knowing who replied, who prefers Arabic and who ran the last story is what makes the next pitch better, and it disappears when it lives in one person's inbox. Wiro's PR module keeps each journalist with their publication, beats and language, and logs every pitch, reply and piece of coverage on their record.
