A theme heard often in communications is the maxim, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”
This mix of the new and traditional is a motif of a survey of more than 400 communicators. PR News and its Media Relations Working Group(MRWG)—23 PR pros analyzing media relations in the age of fake news, sensationalistic clickbait, influencer marketing and integrated communications—created the survey. [The MRWG members are listed below]
In short, it found a majority of communicators appreciate that traditional media relations has changed in the digital age. For most, it’s become much harder to obtain coverage for their stories. Still, an overwhelming number believe media relations continues to matter, although they concede communicators need to change to be successful at it. Surprisingly, the survey also shows few have shifted their media relations approach significantly.
Is Media Relations needed?
There are few industries that have changed more as a result of digital technology than media. Certainly the sobering numbers in the chart on this page indicate a significant amount of change, mostly decline in print and broadcast jobs. It is important to mention the chart excludes gains in jobs at digital-only outlets, though those have flattened in recent years.
A balanced view, of course, is that in many ways, it’s easier than ever to be a journalist and a media relations pro.
For example, digital technology has increased the ways PR pros reach journalists (as chart 6 on page 4 shows). “We certainly seem to have added the needed channels to identify whom we target and how we reach them,” says Nati Katz, technology practice director at Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW) and a member of the MRWG.
And as pitching guru Michael Smart wrote in these pages last September ( PRN, September 12, 2017), Earlier in the 2000s “many of the top-tier media (at least the ones I was pitching) still didn’t reliably use email. To get their attention, you had to actually call them...and to even know whom to target, you had to actually read their work regularly, because the online archives weren’t reliable enough at all outlets to pull up their recent work before a particular pitch.”
In sum, Smart believes “pitching is actually easier now than ever.”
By the same token, journalists have an easier time. They can reach sources, conduct research, check facts, create graphics, work with photos and compose and publish stories at a rate they could only dream of prior to the digital age.
More often, though, we hear the popular wisdom that digital media has decimated traditional print media. Does anyone younger than 30 read newspapers anymore? As such, is it worth the return for communicators to invest time and effort to attempt to gain earned media coverage?
And then, of course, brands have other options to communciate their news and stories.
Smart PR
For example, with brand communicators having the ability to generate and publish material and send it directly to targeted audiences via digital technologies, isn’t it better to skip traditional media and establish a brand news/storytelling operation? Certainly several iconic brands, such as Coca-Cola( PRN, February 6, 2017), Microsoft ( PRN, April 24) and Starbucks( PRN, April 3, 2017), have taken this route and received acclaim for doing so.
This argument seems more compelling in light of the chart illustrating a decline in the number of reporters and by extension news outlets. From there you can make the case that with fewer reporters and outlets it makes the PR pro’s job tougher to find a home for stories.
It’s in this environment PR News and its MRWG asked communicators during March and April about the need for traditional media relations, how communicators’ interplay with media has changed (or not) and what issues they are encountering when they attempt to obtain coverage for their news and other messages. Respondents also were asked about if and how they’ve changed their media relations tactics and strategies.
More Difficult
As you can see in chart number 2, more than 75% of communicators in our survey associated the phrases “much more difficult” and “somewhat more difficult” with the act of gaining media coverage for news.
A total of 24% said it is “much more difficult,” while 52% termed it “somewhat more difficult.”
A small but significant 19% believe earning coverage today is roughly similar to what it was like in the pre-digital era.
Hopeful Message
Media Specialist, MultiVu
Some good news: Look at chart 5 and you see the single, largest group of respondents for any question in the survey, a cohort of 84%, is optimistic about the future of media relations as a useful tactic in PR.
It is important to note, however, the wording of this question. This overwhelming majority agreed that adaptation to changesis needed to allow PR pros to be successful in media relations, a traditional part of communications.
As MRWG member Maggie McMahon, a media specialist at MultiVu, says, “Media relations has never been more challenging, yet it remains a vital component of PR.” For McMahon, to break through the “heavy news cycle and reach shrinking newsrooms requires more thought and effort.” Emphasis must be placed on “relationship-building with media, strategic timing and storytelling around a brand.”
Slow to Change
Fine, so the message seems to be change your approach to media relations and pitching, right? On that score the survey’s results are open to interpretation.
Nearly one-third of respondents (27%) say their media relations tactics and strategies have remained mostly the same (see chart 4).
Looked at with a glass-is-half-full approach, the survey can be a source of hope. In this light, nearly three-quarters (74%) of communicators have “significantly” (16%) or “somewhat” (58%) changed their approach to media relations.
On the other hand, a sobering view can be interpreted as alarming: 85% of PR pros have only “somewhat” or barely at all changed their media relations tactics in the face of a significantly altered atmosphere that seems to require change.
Blame It on Smaller Newsrooms
As Smart wrote, “Most PR pros don’t actually take advantage of the new avenues for success...almost everybody in this business simply defaults back to the same essential process their predecessors used...blast out a news release to a big list of media and hope for a response. The only innovation is that today’s generic pitchers use email instead of blast-fax software.”
MRWG member Kandace Foreman, deputy director, marketing & communications, District of Columbia Public Library, agrees with Smart about the need for PR pros to adjust their tactics to succeed.
“To be successful,” she says, “PR practitioners have to be amenable to change. This willingness to be flexible in how pitches are approached often means a switch in strategy as well.”
Of particular concern to Foreman is the popularity of email as a pitching mechanism, which is illustrated in chart 6. Journalists, she says, say they get hundreds of emails daily, “which means emails go unread.”
Her recommendation is a good Twitter pitch. “It is more likely to make the news cycle. And the probability increases when the pitch has supporting elements, such as pictures or a video,” she says.
Ryan George, AVP, marketing and communications at 1st Global and a MRWG member, is optimistic about the future of media relations. He’s aligned with the 84% who believe media relations remains important, but “I don’t feel the need to qualify” how much must change to succeed.
For George, “As long as there are readers, viewers, followers and audiences, building and maintaining relationships with the gatekeepers will be essential for communicators. I fear we may be losing sight of the importance of that to our success.”
...But No Reason Stands Out
AVP, Marketing/Communications,
1st Global
The results in chart 4 seem to inform some of those in chart 3. As you can see, answers to the question why it’s more difficult to gain coverage are many and none dominates.
The largest group, at 25%, nowhwere near a majority, sees shrinking newsrooms as the culprit. Other responses stem from that.
For example, 17% say journalists have had to become generalists, implying there are fewer well-informed reporters to take PR pros’ pitches. And 12% say media is no longer interested in telling great stories but instead the desire for clicks is what motivates reporters. 11% believe the media has become too sensationalized. As a result reporters seek scandalous items as opposed to “nuts-and-bolts industry”stories.
How They’ve Changed or Have Not
Surveys can be limiting in that they ask people to respond to multiple-choice questions with pre-written answers.
To overcome this, the PR News-PR News Media Relations Working Group (MRWG) survey allowed those who responded that they’d changed their media relations tactics to describe in writing how they’d done so. Nearly 300 replies were received.
An overarching theme was the heavy use of social and email to connect with media. Just 1 respondent eschewed social for phoning media, another touted face-to-face encounters with journalists.
In assessing the responses, Burson Cohn & Wolfe’s technology practice leader and MRWG member Nati Katz said, “It is not a shock that a vast majority of voices attest to the shift toward digital, social and paid as a hedge against shrinking newsrooms. The surprising factor is the scope and size of this shift.”
He added, “It seems many PR pros have given up or deprioritized traditional media relations in favor of paid.” While this makes sense in terms of targeting audiences, it poses a risk to PR. “Once digital, social, and interactive firms acquire the right talent to tailor content, the need for PR media relations expertise may be drastically undermined.”
His suggestion: “A hyper-interactive approach to [media relations], where no single channel has more value over its alternative.”
For example, he espouses campaigns that include sponsored content on traditional mainstream sites such as The Economist, Wall St. Journal and NY Times etc, plus proactive social multimedia and multichannel campaigns. “It is only this strategic manner that can sustain a PR and communications core expertise in the new media age,” he says.
Katz was “pleasantly surprised” to see mentions of relationship building and “increased devotion to the identification and relevancy of targets.”
Many respondents said they are investing in getting to better know their targets and, more important, tailoring stories to their targets’ needs. Several said they think about how stories can provide value to targets’ readers.
To that end, Katz said, “I am delighted to see...many PR practitioners have either drastically reduced or completely dropped...generic press releases” as a way of drawing attention to a story opportunity.
Many attested to personalizing their pitches, including revising length, style and depth to make them more straightforward and brief.
On the downside, Katz said few respondents wrote they’d aligned the stories they pitch with media’s subject needs. Further, he saw little evidence PR pros are significantly changing how they handle media relations.
The PR News Media Relations Working Group
We thank the members of the PR News Media Relations Working Group who joined PR News editors to create the media relations survey you read about in this article. They are listed here alphabetically.
Chet Bridger, VP of Corporate Communications, M&T Bank
Rachael Collins, Account Executive, Peppercomm
Nancy Condon, VP of Media Relations & Web Services, FINRA
Phil Cynar, Senior Communications Specialist, Allegheny Conference on Community Development
Rayhan Daudani, Senior Communications Specialist, Dominion Energy
Kellie Didigu, Media Relations Specialist, Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia
Kealey Dorian, Media Relations Specialists, Love’s Travel Stops
Jane Esworthy, Senior Director, Public Relations, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Kandace Foreman, Deputy Director, Marketing and Communications, DC Public Library
Becky Frost, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, Instructure
Ryan George, Assistant VP, Marketing and Communications, 1st Global
Alice Good, Outreach and Digital PR Manager, Clearlink
Nati Katz, Director, Technology Practice, Burson Cohn & Wolfe
Natalie Matthews, Media Relations Manager, American Dental Association
Maggie McMahon, Media Relations Specialist, MultiVu
Laura Noland, External Communications Manager, Love’s Travel Stops
Mike Paoli, Chief Communication Officer, Manager of Public Affairs, Energy Northwest
Ana Pinilla, Jr. Account Executive, Business Wire
Christine Pomorski, Corporate Communications, Global Services, Boeing
Annette Rodriguez, VP, Corporate Communications, MMM Holdings
Alicia Rohan, Public Relations Manager, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Mara Silverio, Manager, National Public and Media Relations/Communications, American Heart Association
Eric Wilson, Instructor, Outreach Coordinator & Adviser, Wichita State University