Learning when to stop emailing a journalist

Every now and again I have to ask a PR to remove me from their mailing list. The request doesn’t give me any pleasure, but it’s often a last resort after receiving too many pitches that I wouldn't cover. I could block them (and sometimes I do) but sometimes I prefer to send through a polite request with a reason so they know why their emails have gone unanswered and perhaps it helps them understand why it’s better to target journalists (something I bang on about in my workshop and course).

I was reminded of this when I saw a journalist publicly flogging a PR on Twitter last week after she posted that she had been repeatedly sent emails about pregnancy and babies which she didn’t wish to receive. I too have asked PRs not to send me emails and then weeks later, they’re back at it. Now I know some of this can be put down to all manner of tech systems and media databases, but if a journalist is telling you not to email them, please do everything you can to respect that. It’s rude to continue emailing when someone has specifically gone out their way to tell you not to, especially about subjects they may find sensitive. However, I will say, there’s always the block button which I am also partial to when a barrage of unwanted and irrelevant emails fly into my inbox.

ps I continually work with AMAZING PRs and have bigged up PRs on here. Also, I'm well aware what a nightmare some of us journalists are too.