If you’re finding that feature pitches are taking longer than ever to convert into published pieces, you’re not alone. Across the industry, PR professionals are noticing a slowdown in how quickly features get commissioned, written, and published.

So what’s causing the delay?

Shirinking Newsrooms, Heavier Workloads

Journalists are under increasing pressure to produce more with fewer resources. With fewer staff - over 8,000 journalism jobs were cut across the UK and North America in 2023 alone - and tighter deadlines, long-form features often take a backseat to faster, reactive content that drives web traffic.

The News Agenda Rules

Editors are prioritising pieces tied to breaking news, trending topics, or viral moments. Stories without a clear “now” hook - even powerful human-interest features - may get pushed down the queue or shelved altogether.

Bottlenecks in the system

Even when a piece is commissioned, it may sit in a backlog while editors juggle publication schedules. Features often wait for space to open up, which can take weeks or even months.

What This Means for Charities and Purpose Driven Organisations

For charities that rely on timely features to support campaigns or fundraising activity, this lag can be frustrating. A story that lands too late may miss the moment - or lose its relevance entirely.

What can we do?

• Pitch earlier: Build in more lead time than you think you need.
• Stay news-aware: Frame stories in the context of current trends or events.
• Broaden your reach: Explore digital outlets, niche publications, podcasts, and independent newsletters (like those on Substack or Ghost).

Follow up: A polite check-in can sometimes bring a feature back to life.

The feature slowdown is real, but with flexibility and creative thinking, charity stories can still shine - just on a slightly longer timeline than before.