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A journalist has launched a free platform for fellow journalists allowing them to state how they do - and do not - want to receive pitches from PRs.

HowToPitch.me has been created by Nicholas Holmes, the freelancer and entrepreneur who created online portfolio for journalists Cuttings.me. You can see his HowToPitch profile here.

The new platform launched today, which Holmes says is an attempt to remove spam from a journalist's inbox.

HowToPitch.com provides journalists with the chance to sign up for a profile, list their region, and tell PRs what subjects they accept pitches on and what areas they do not cover.

For example, as a travel journalist Holmes said he is interested in news on hotels, but does not want to receive notifications that a hotel has a new chief executive.

HowToPitch.me also gives journalists a space to say whether they want to receive pitches by phone, email or Twitter.

How To Pitch

Holmes told Journalism.co.uk: "So much ink has been spilled on PR spam and how to stop it. Part of the problem is that access to journalists is still a bit of a walled garden. You have to pay for media databases – and I don't see why that should be the case.

"Journalists want to receive pitches, but want them to be accurate and do so in an appropriate way," he said.

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