The Food Section, an award-winning newsletter covering food industries in the American South, will stop accepting written story pitches and switch to a phone-only system starting in September. Founder Hanna Raskin said the move is a direct response to a summer "deluge" of AI-generated and AI-enhanced story ideas clogging her inbox.
"We're switching to a pitch-by-phone system come September," Raskin announced Tuesday. "Having been deluged by AI-generated and enhanced story ideas this summer, we're re-humanizing the process with a dedicated hotline (which has the added benefit of weeding out supposed reporters who aren't in the habit of ringing up strangers.)"
The publication currently takes pitches through a Google Form. Raskin said she noticed the increase in AI-generated pitches after The Food Section raised its freelance pay rates on July 17. She estimates that a quarter of recent pitches were "wholly AI, meaning neither the writer nor the proposed story appears to exist in the real world."
Raskin said the situation was "incredibly depressing" and that it was changing how she evaluated legitimate submissions. "What was especially worrisome was I felt myself becoming more inclined to dismiss pitches from writers without sterling portfolios or connections to journalists in my professional circle," she said. "That's hardly compatible with cultivating new voices or encouraging young reporters."
A hotline with human hours
The pitch hotline will operate during designated hours, and Raskin plans to coordinate with journalists to take calls at times that work for them. She acknowledged the system isn't foolproof. "I'm not a fool: I'm sure there is an AI way to game this system too," she said. "But my hunch is it will work until it doesn't."
The phone requirement also accounts for the realities of freelance work. "We understand that many great writers - meaning the kind which aren't AI - have hourly-wage jobs and other unmoveable obligations," Raskin said.
The phone number will be published in The Food Section's newsletter next month.
An industry-wide problem
Editors across media have been wrestling with AI-generated pitches for over a year. Last summer, Wired and Business Insider retracted stories published by "Margaux Blanchard," a fabricated freelancer later identified as an AI persona. In July, Futurism reported that PR firms are using AI publicists to spam journalists with pitches.
The Food Section has won a James Beard award and a National Magazine Award, making it the first newsletter to earn either honor. Raskin's decision to require phone pitches is a notable shift for a publication that has built its reputation on rigorous reporting and freelance development, a topic covered extensively in AI for Writers and AI for Creatives resources.
Why this matters for writers
If you pitch editors, this affects you directly. The Food Section's policy change signals that some editors are no longer willing to sort through AI-generated pitches to find real writers - and that screeners are starting to penalize everyone, including legitimate freelancers with thin portfolios. If you use AI to draft or polish pitches, know that editors are actively looking for signs of it. The cost of a sloppy AI-assisted pitch isn't just a rejection; it's the risk of being lumped in with the quarter of submissions that don't exist in the real world.
For working writers, the practical takeaway is simple: pick up the phone. Raskin's move rewards the reporters who are willing to have a conversation, confirm they're a real person, and demonstrate they've actually read the publication. That's a low bar - and it's becoming the new standard.
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