Crypto newsrooms don’t hide how they choose stories. Cointelegraph’s editorial policy says all editorial decisions are made solely on the basis of news value, factual importance, and journalistic merit. That’s a scoring rubric sitting in plain sight. Most pitches never get graded against it.
What Crypto Newsrooms Actually Weigh
Three tests come straight from that line. News value asks whether this is new and matters now. Factual importance asks whether the claim is true and consequential. Journalistic merit asks whether it’s a story worth telling at all, apart from anyone’s marketing plan.
A product launch with no numbers usually fails the second test. A partnership announced with no detail fails the third. A genuinely new mechanism with public data passes all three.
Payment Doesn’t Buy the Story
The same policy stresses that editors and journalists work independently from the outlet’s business side. Look at the navigation bars too. CoinDesk labels a section Sponsored. Cointelegraph labels one Commissioned. Paid content has its own labeled lane, and it isn’t the news desk.
Projects sometimes forget this when comparing guest posts and press releases. A paid placement can be worth it for reach. It just isn’t editorial coverage, and readers can tell.
Score Your Pitch Before Sending It
Score your pitch against the newsroom test
Rate each part from 0 to 10, honestly. Ask a colleague to score it too.
Below 60 percent, rework the pitch before sending. This is a self-check, not a formula any newsroom uses.
Timing and Format Still Count
A pitch can score well and still miss. Wrong desk, wrong week, buried subject line. Those mechanics are covered in a step-by-step guide to pitching media. The rubric gets a pitch considered. The mechanics get it opened.
The Rubric Is Also a Rewrite Guide
When a pitch scores low, the fix is usually one of three things. Add a verifiable number. Add a named source. Cut the adjectives. None of that takes a week.
Running pitches through this exact test before they reach an inbox is routine at News Coverage Agency. Get a pitch review and see how yours scores with people who read these desks daily.