• by Ray Schultz , February 2, 2025

PR people trying to reach journalists should change their thinking about scheduling their messages.

No longer are Tuesdays and Wednesdays the best time for approaching reporters: Friday evening from 6 p.m. to midnight is now the optimal period, according to Propel’s Media Barometer Q4 2024. 

“Experts suggest that as journalists face increased workloads, Fridays offer a window for catching up on emails before the weekend lull,” Propel writes. 

The report also shows that PR pitches to reporters have an open rate of 39.8% and a response rate of 3.84%, up from 2.66% in fourth-quarter 2022 and 3.33 in Q4 2023. 

“This upward trend highlights the growing effectiveness of targeted, personalized pitches, emphasizing the importance of data-driven tools and thoughtful outreach in todays PR landscape,” Propel observes. 

The most-pitched subject categories in Q4 2024 were law, government and politics, with finance and investing, business operations and education also scoring well. 

But the most responsive topics were business and industrial, brand management and health fitness and therapy. 

BBC News was both the most pitched and productive outlet by numbers, while Forbes was most responsive by percentage.

On the entertainment front, Blake Lively suffered a 311% increase in negative sentiment, while Justin Baldoni’s hit was even worse — 733%, due to their lawsuit.