Your guide on how to find journalists, craft irresistible pitches, and land coverage in NZ media outlets.

Getting media coverage in New Zealand can feel intimidating when you’re building a startup, scaling a company, or launching something new. But the reality is this: most journalists are actively looking for relevant, timely, and interesting stories.

The challenge isn’t getting media attention. It’s learning how to pitch properly.

If you understand how journalists think, how newsrooms operate, and how to position your business as a compelling story, you dramatically improve your chances of landing meaningful PR coverage.

In this guide, we’ll break down a simple but highly effective framework for getting PR in New Zealand – even if you’ve never pitched the media before.

Why PR Still Matters in New Zealand

Before diving into tactics, it’s worth understanding why PR remains one of the most powerful growth levers for New Zealand businesses.

Strong media coverage can help you:

• Build trust and authority
• Attract customers organically
• Generate inbound partnerships
• Raise investor awareness
• Improve SEO through backlinks
• Recruit better talent
• Differentiate yourself from competitors

Unlike paid advertising, PR creates third-party credibility. When a respected outlet writes about your business, it acts as social proof at scale.

For founders in New Zealand’s relatively small ecosystem, one strong media story can create outsized momentum.

Part 1: Finding The Right Journalist To Pitch

One of the biggest mistakes founders make is blasting generic emails to dozens of journalists.

That almost never works.

Instead, successful PR starts with identifying the right reporter – someone who already writes about your industry, technology, or business category.

Start With The Right Media Outlet

Choose a publication that already covers your business vertical.

For example:

If you’re building an AI startup, for example, pitching a journalist who primarily writes about politics probably won’t go well.

Relevance matters.

Search For Your Industry Keywords

Once you’ve chosen an outlet, head to their website and use the search function.

Type in keywords related to your industry:

• AI
• SaaS
• Logistics
• Climate tech
• Cybersecurity
• Manufacturing
• Agritech
• Venture capital

The goal is simple: Find journalists who are already writing about businesses like yours.

Sort Articles By Recency

This step matters more than most people realise.

A journalist may have covered your sector two years ago but no longer writes about it.

Look for:

• Recent articles
• Consistent topic coverage
• Ongoing interest in your category
• Similar companies to yours

If someone has written three AI-related articles in the last fortnight, there’s a strong chance they’re actively looking for more AI stories.

That’s your opening.

Find The Journalist’s Contact Details

Once you identify the right reporter:

1. Click into their author profile
2. Look for:
   • Email address
   • LinkedIn
   • X/Twitter profile
   • Bluesky
   • Contact form

Sometimes journalists list direct contact information. Sometimes they don’t. If not, do a little digging.

Search Google using:

• “(Journalist Name) + LinkedIn”
• “(Journalist Name) + Twitter”
• “(Journalist Name) + email”
• “(Journalist Name) + publication”

You’d be surprised how often this works.

Part 2: Research Before You Pitch

This is where most PR outreach falls apart. Good PR is contextual.

Founders pitch stories without understanding:

• What the journalist writes about
• Their tone
• Their audience
• Their recent coverage

The more personalised your pitch feels, the more likely it gets opened.

Use AI To Analyse Recent Coverage

This is where tools like ChatGPT become incredibly useful.

Instead of manually reading dozens of articles, you can use AI to summarise a journalist’s recent work and identify patterns.

Here’s a simple prompt framework:

Please find any articles that have been written by (INSERT JOURNALIST PROFILE URL) in the last two weeks and summarise a concise pitch for my own business (INSERT YOUR WEBSITE URL).

Please also explain:

• Why this story would be relevant to the journalist
• Which themes overlap with their recent coverage
• Potential story angles
• Suggested headlines
• Key data points worth mentioning

This dramatically improves the quality of your outreach.

Instead of sending a generic “we launched a startup” email, you’re connecting your story directly to topics the journalist already cares about.

That’s a huge difference.

Part 3: Crafting A Pitch Journalists Actually Read

Now comes the most important part: The pitch itself.

Most journalists receive hundreds of emails every week. Your job is not to sound “corporate.”

Your job is to sound:

• Relevant
• Interesting
• Clear
• Human

   

What Makes A Strong PR Pitch?

A good pitch usually contains:

1. A Personalised Opening

Reference something the journalist recently wrote.

This proves:

• You’ve done your homework
• You’re not mass-emailing people
• Your story is relevant

   

2. A Clear News Angle

Why should anyone care?

Good examples:

• Funding announcement
• Industry shift
• New technology
• Economic impact
• Regulatory implications
• Unique founder story
• Contrarian insight

   

3. Supporting Evidence

Data makes stories stronger.
Use:

• Statistics
• Research
• Customer outcomes
• Market trends
• Case studies

   

4. Suggested Headlines

This is massively underrated. Journalists are busy.

If you can provide compelling headline ideas, you reduce their workload and help shape the narrative.

5. A Soft Close

Don’t demand coverage. Invite conversation.

Keep it casual and respectful.

Example Of A Strong New Zealand PR Pitch

Here’s a refined version of the original example pitch.

Kia ora Peter,

I listened to your recent piece on OpenClaw and thought I’d reach out because our work aligns closely with the AI themes you’ve been covering lately.

At Tacit Intelligence, we’ve recently received $1M in R&D funding from Callaghan Innovation to help capture expert judgement and institutional knowledge using AI.

A 2019 paper published in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management estimated that up to 80% of organisational knowledge is tacit — meaning it exists inside people’s heads rather than systems or documentation.

That’s the problem we’re trying to solve.

Rather than building another generic chatbot, we’re developing AI systems that capture and deploy institutional expertise so organisations retain the judgement, decision-making, and operational knowledge that usually disappears when experienced staff leave.

Given your recent focus on applied AI and New Zealand innovation, I thought this might be relevant.

A few possible headline angles:

• The economic cost of losing institutional knowledge — and the NZ startup trying to digitise expert judgement
• From chatbots to judgement engines: NZ company building AI trained on human expertise
• Can AI preserve institutional knowledge in the public sector?

Happy to share more detail if useful — and equally happy for you to tell me I’m barking up the wrong tree.

Cheers,
Kale

Why This Pitch Works

1. It’s Contextual
2. It’s Timely
3. It Contains Substance
   

   The pitch includes:

   • Funding
   • Research
   • Industry implications
   • Economic relevance

    

4. It Gives Journalists Angles
   Instead of forcing the journalist to invent a story, the email hands them multiple directions to explore.

That’s incredibly valuable.

Part 4: Understanding What Journalists Actually Want

Many founders think PR is about promoting their business. It’s not. Your company is simply the vehicle for the story.

Journalists care about:

• Stories
• Trends
• Tension
• Impact
• Relevance
• Audience interest
  
  

The Best PR Angles For New Zealand Businesses

If you’re struggling to find a media angle, these tend to work well in NZ:

Funding Announcements

Especially:

• Callaghan Innovation grants
• Venture capital raises
• Government funding
• Expansion capital

Economic Impact

Stories tied to:

• Productivity
• Skills shortages
• Labour challenges
• Export growth
  
  

Unique Founder Journeys

New Zealand media loves authentic founder stories.

Industry Transformation

How technology is changing:

• Farming
• Healthcare
• Logistics
• Construction
• Education
  
  

Data & Research

Original insights are highly shareable.

Common PR Mistakes To Avoid

1. Mass Emailing Journalists.
2. Overhyping. Avoid words like “Revolutionary” and “Game-changing”.
3. Writing Huge Emails. Keep is concise – 150–300 words, clear structure, easy to skim.
4. Making is all about you. Focus on industry relevance, reader value, broader implications.

How To Follow Up Without Being Annoying

If you don’t hear back:

• Wait 3–5 business days
• Send one polite follow-up
• Keep it short
  
  

Example:

Kia ora Peter,

Just bumping this to the top of your inbox in case it got buried.

Happy to share more detail if the story is relevant – no worries at all if not.

Cheers,
Kale

That’s enough.

Don’t spam reporters.