What it is
This skill helps you craft professional story pitches that editors actually want to read. Whether you're pitching a news article, feature story, investigation, or op-ed, you'll get structured templates that cover the essentials: why the story matters, why now, what sources you have, and what resources you need. Perfect for journalists, content creators, freelance writers, and anyone who needs to sell a story idea to an editor or publication.
What it does
- Provides proven templates for daily news, features, investigations, and op-ed pitches
- Structures your pitch with hook, evidence, access, and timeline sections
- Helps you answer the critical questions editors ask: why this story, why now, why you, why this outlet
- Formats pitches for different publication types and editorial expectations
- Includes real examples showing how to present sources, visuals, and resource needs
Use it when
- You're pitching a story idea to an editor or publication
- You need to write a freelance query letter that stands out
- You're competing for an assignment in your newsroom
- You want to refine your story angle before you start reporting
Add this skill to your AI
Copy the source URL and ask your AI to add it. Most coding agents — Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Windsurf — will fetch and install it for you.
Try this prompt:
Add this skill to my project: https://github.com/jamditis/claude-skills-journalism/tree/master/story-pitch