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What Can You Learn From the AI Pitches That Landed (and Didn’t) by That Fake “Journalist?”

Last week, I wrote about the AI bot that got bylines in Business Insider, Wired, SF Gate, and more, and I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means for those of us who are real, live, human journalists with robust experience, years of training, real bylines, and plenty of online presence. 

I’ve dug up one of Blanchard’s old stories about Disney fanatics, from May, that still exists online. (Syndication can be a bitch if you’re a publication trying to scrub a story.) In reading it, it's clear that none of the reporting is real, and it should have absolutely been spotted far sooner than it was.

Here’s why:

The names of all her sources are pretty generic, and a quick Google search of these folks quoted in the story does not yield anyone who matches their descriptions. The AI even included “quotes” from a “content creator” named Kayla Reed, claiming more than 100k followers on TikTok. A person matching that description does not exist.

If these people were real freelancers and contractors (as the story claims) in any content or marketing space, they’d have profiles selling their wares (like we all do), and in a world where social media presence is everything, it's VERY suspect that they wouldn’t pop up in search. What’s clear here is that the editors who approved this story failed to do a quick Google search and didn’t do their due diligence, nor ask for ‘proof of life.’

Yet, it turns out (according to this great story from the Press Gazette in the UK), the only real red flag that raised this Blanchard AI as a fake was the fact that they wanted to be paid via PayPal or Venmo–and not go through the normal channels that all of us typically do. 

But here’s the thing that’s been bugging me: The AI clearly got something right in the pitch, otherwise we wouldn’t have known about these stories that got pulled, right?

As someone who regularly pitches and lands great features in top-tier publications, but also receives many more ghosted pitches and flat-out nos, I wanted to know: What did the AI get right, and what can I learn about pitching editors at these outlets and landing stories that sell?

So. I dug in.

Here are three things that we can all learn (and implement!) from the AI pitches that got responses (and publication!) from editors at top-tier publications. 

Specificity is Your Golden Ticket to Getting a Response from an Editor

Blanchard’s pitches sounded good on the surface—they aligned with what the outlets publish (as Wired editors noted), but when editors asked for details (a reporting plan, sources, clips), the answers fell apart. The sources didn’t exist, bios were fake, and examples were vague.

The Takeaway For Freelancers Looking to Land the Pitch: 

• Always include real, verifiable specifics in your pitch

• List out actual people you’ve already contacted or plan to interview. 

• Use concrete data sources or documents you’ll use (and for God’s sake, link to them in your pitch)

• While this is controversial (we’ll talk about publications stealing freelance pitches in another post)— Include a detail that only comes from your own reporting, not from a Google search.

Editors are STARVED for great pitches and great, reliable reporting 

As that Wired editor notes, the pitch had “all the hallmarks of a great WIRED story: a quirky internet subculture, fun visual potential, and a larger point about ‘love, community, and identity in an era where physical spaces often feel less ‘real’ than our digital ones.’” (See what I did there? I linked directly to the source for my quote! You should do that in your pitches!)

Editors WANT great story ideas!

The Takeaway for Freelancers Looking to Land the Pitch:

Guess what? (and this is huge for those of you who are paid subscribers to this newsletter) 

The bar for that great pitch is actually lower than you think if you can back it up with substance. 

Editors are eager for freelancers who can deliver a strong, relevant idea and execute it with credibility, and show receipts for their reporting. So:

• Record your interviews. ALWAYS 

• Get transcripts. ALWAYS

• For God's sake, LINK TO THOSE TRANSCRIPTS in your draft so that editors can see the context. If you’re not doing that, you’re not doing your job as a journalist. 

Your Voice and Perspective Make You Human (and real) 

Editors in that Press Gazette piece noted that the stuff that Blanchard sent read hollow, formulaic, and thin, with a lack of detail and sourcing. So what does that mean for your pitch?

The Takeaway for Freelancers Looking to Land the Pitch

• Your idea will stand out if you can showcase your voice and depth of experience.

• Give your perspective, why you’re interested, why now, and what is missing from current coverage when pitching an editor. 

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And Now..the Jobs

All that’s to say, there are still tons of opportunities out there if you know where to look and can take these lessons to heart.

Some of you may wonder why I don’t regularly share jobs like this one at Vanity Fair or this one at Wired, when they both pay above the six-figure threshold for this newsletter.

I regularly screen out jobs like these because they don’t offer hybrid or remote options, something I think is a significant negative for these outlets, especially because these jobs can both absolutely be done remotely and there are thousands of highly skilled journalists with deep experience who don’t live (or want to live) in or near a major city and waste years of their lives commuting into a dank office every day.

That being said, there are still plenty of remote and hybrid jobs out there that pay a living wage. A few on the list this week include: 

• A deputy editor-in-chief position at a rapidly growing media outlet offering up to $200k per year.

• A head of editorial role for a very well-established global foodie review outlet that pays up to $170k per year. 

•  A freelance gig that pays up to $1.50 per word for stories about the intersection of Design and Horror (it is getting into spooky season after all). 

• A content strategist role that pays more than $350k.

• A video and podcast deputy editor and producer role for a very well-respected magazine that pays up to $170k.

If you’re a paid subscriber, feel free to jump right in and check out the latest jobs. If you’re not…well, you know what to do.

Get Access to the latest jobs for $5 per month!