The PR Calendar
The next 365 days of confirmed and forecast top-company earnings, central-bank decisions, economic releases, awareness days, cultural moments, conferences, and retail peaks worth pitching.
How far in advance should you pitch journalists?
Start four to six months ahead for national monthly magazines, four to eight weeks for weekly titles, one to fourteen days for daily news, two to six weeks for planned broadcast, four to twelve weeks for podcasts, and six to twelve weeks for trade print. These are planning baselines, not universal deadlines: use each calendar entry’s pitch start, pitch deadline, and lead-time note for the specific moment.
A good calendar tells you when the news happens. A useful one tells you when planning should start. Open any event above for its suggested pitch window and lead-time recommendation.
| Media type | Start here | What changes the timing |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly magazines | 4–6 months | Seasonal issues and gift guides can close even earlier. Pitch the issue theme, not merely the calendar date. |
| Weekly titles | 4–8 weeks | Bring a complete angle and source list early enough for commissioning, reporting and production. |
| Dailies and news sites | 1–14 days | Planned features need runway; breaking-news commentary may move in hours. Match the reporter’s actual cadence. |
| TV and radio | 2–6 weeks planned; 0–3 days reactive | A ready guest, a visual demonstration and local relevance can matter as much as the idea itself. |
| Podcasts | 4–12 weeks | Allow for guest booking, pre-interviews and an editing queue. Tie the pitch to the show’s format and audience. |
| Trade publications | 6–12 weeks print; 2–6 weeks digital | Offer subject-matter depth, useful data or a byline that fits the publication’s editorial calendar. |
How do we build a PR calendar people can actually use?
PR people plan around moments that give journalists a timely reason to care. We keep an exact rolling 365-day view, check dates against reliable public sources, and look at recent coverage. For finance, we monitor the world’s 100 largest public companies: officially announced earnings appear as exact dates, while unannounced quarters appear as clearly labeled 15-day forecast windows derived from the latest quarterly cadence. Forecasts are replaced as soon as an official company, exchange, or regulator source confirms the date. Then we add a practical pitch window so teams can work backwards from the news—not discover it after the story has moved on.
- Start with a moment worth owning.We look for confirmed earnings, clearly labeled earnings forecast windows, policy decisions, economic releases, awareness days, shows, awards and seasonal peaks that give journalists a reason to care now.
- Add the local context.Regional contributors add market nuance. Exact financial dates stay out until the company, exchange, regulator or responsible institution confirms them; unannounced quarters remain labeled as forecast windows.
- Work backwards from the story.We check the date and recent coverage, then suggest when planning should start and when the pitch should land.
Contributors
- Jodi Lynn Karpes· Founder,GreenQueen PR
- Jack Jacob· Account Manager,Lansons
Know a date we should add? [email protected]
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