New Research · Cybersecurity Edition

The Pitch

Report

We asked 350 tech journalists — including the reporters covering the cybersecurity beat — what it really takes to break through their inbox in 2026.

350 JournalistsU.S. + U.K.Cyber beat cut inside

Download the Full Report →

Scroll ↓

Introduction

Inside the tech newsroom.

PR has long occupied an uneasy place in journalism culture. In many newsrooms, taking a pitch has traditionally been viewed as the easy route. That perception has always been unfair — but it has shaped the dynamic between the two sides in ways that still surface today.

At the same time, the practical reality is shifting. As editorial teams shrink, news cycles accelerate, and beats widen, reporters need reliable sources, original data, and expert access more than ever. The PR–journalism relationship isn’t going away. It’s becoming more load-bearing whether the industry wants to admit it or not.

What follows is what 350 tech journalists told us: candid, specific, and intended to help PR teams close the gap between what they’re sending and what works — with a dedicated look at the cybersecurity beat in Chapter 04.

A note on the numbers: except where a chapter is marked as the cybersecurity cut, every figure reflects all 350 respondents.

01 The Inbox Problem

The inbox problem is bigger than anyone’s admitting.

For many tech journalists, managing PR outreach is itself a big part of the job — a time sink that competes with reporting, writing, and source development.

80%

of tech journalists spend 3+ hours per week managing PR-related email.

72%

say a meaningful share of that time is spent on pitches with no realistic chance of coverage.

67%

have “almost certainly” missed a story because it got lost in pitch volume.

The volume problem is compounding. Nearly two-thirds of journalists (65%) say the number of pitches they receive has increased compared to two years ago — and among the highest-volume recipients, that figure rises to 72%.

“One cybersecurity reporter recently shared that they received well over 5,000 emails the week before RSA — yet only had time for two or three briefings all week.” — Kickstand cybersecurity practice

Top Pitch Frustrations

Mass-distributed, no personalization

46%

Misrepresents what the story would be

44%

Not written for their beat

39%

Excessive follow-up after no response

38%

02 A Changing World

A journalist’s world is changing — and PR pros need to understand that.

Journalists are being asked to absorb more pitches at the exact moment they have less capacity to do anything with them.

83%

expect pressure on journalists to increase further in the coming year.

65%

are seeking or already have supplemental income outside their staff role.

57%

say compensation is not equitable for the work they do.

Sixty-three percent of tech journalists say their beat has widened to the point where it’s hard to maintain deep expertise across everything they’re expected to cover.

03 What Actually Works

What actually gets a journalist to open and reply.

Despite the noise, journalists aren’t unreachable. The challenge is that most pitches never clear the first bar.

77%

are more likely to respond to a research-backed pitch than to a product announcement with the same news value.

81%

always or usually open pitches from PR contacts they have an established relationship with.

91%

can tell within the first sentence whether a pitch was written specifically for them.

83%

say referencing their recent work makes them meaningfully more likely to respond.

04 The Cybersecurity Cut

What changes when the beat is cybersecurity.

Cyber reporters diverge from the wider sample in ways that matter to anyone pitching them: they run on credibility, they move fast, and they weight original data more heavily than any other beat we surveyed.

44%

of cybersecurity journalists say their job would be meaningfully easier if PR understood how fast the news cycle moves and how quickly coverage windows close — the highest of any vertical (vs. 37% overall).

22%

more likely than the average tech journalist to name original research as a top-three pitch requirement.

33%

cite original data or proprietary research as a key factor in whether a pitch is worth reading — 22% above the overall average.

41%

say a phone call is acceptable — but only when an established relationship exists (vs. 31% overall).

On a beat where a story’s lifespan can be two to four hours, cyber journalists are also 10% more likely than other reporters to take a research-backed pitch over a product announcement. Credibility and speed are the price of entry.

05 The Mechanics

The mechanics of a pitch that works.

Tone and intent matter — but so do the structural details most PR teams treat as afterthoughts: channel, length, lead time. (Note the cyber exception on phone in Chapter 04.)

Preferred Pitch Channel

62%

10%

Phone

X (Twitter)

Other

12%

70%

have passed on a story they wanted to cover because embargo terms were too restrictive.

75%

say PR teams underestimate how quickly the coverage window closes after an announcement.

06 AI in the Inbox

AI in the inbox: what journalists perceive.

Whether the instinct is always accurate matters less than the fact that the perception exists — and is already shaping how journalists engage. Especially relevant heading into a security conference, where AI-generated outreach floods every inbox.

83%

say they can usually tell when a pitch has been AI-generated or heavily AI-assisted.

How Journalists Identify AI-Generated Pitches

Overly formal or unnatural sentence structure

47%

Generic phrasing applicable to any reporter/beat

42%

Reads like a press release, not a personal note

42%

High volume from single contact in short window

36%

Excessive use of em dashes

32%

Excessive use of bulleted lists

31%

07 Who Breaks Through

The PR pros who break through.

Journalists are specific about what distinguishes the contacts they trust from the ones they filter out — and it’s less about tactics than professional culture. On the cyber beat, where credibility is currency, a trusted contact is worth even more.

What Makes Trusted PR Contacts Stand Out

Treats the relationship as long-term, not transactional

62%

Follows through on promises

57%

Deep understanding of journalist’s beat

48%

Doesn’t pitch things the journalist wouldn’t cover

39%

81%

have recommended a PR contact based on positive experience.

69%

have warned a colleague away from a PR contact after repeated bad experiences.

65%

have blocked or filtered a PR contact due to excessive follow-up.

Get the Full Report

Download the full pitch report. No form fill required.

The full findings — every chapter, every chart — straight from the people on the other end of your pitches.

Download the PDF →

Want more research like this in your inbox?

Download Report ↓