Media Relations

This past December at PRNEWS’ Media Relations conference in Washington, D.C., Toner talked about the changing world of Media Relations in a digital landscape, why a multi-channel approach incorporating both marketing and PR is the path to making it happen, and how to make your multi-channel game seamless.

Ethics has long been a hallmark of public relations. In this fourth and final installment of PRNEWS’ 2020 predictions, the theme of ethics seemed to dominate. Whether it be in technology, storytelling or writing, several of our prognosticators emphasized ethics’ importance in the coming year.

Embedded in Gervais’ barbs was far more than a subversive comedian taking jabs at a captive audience— a reminder that, in an election year, problematic business decisions  from the top tiers of a brand will continue to leave a mark on the celebrities, and spokespeople, who are doing work on behalf of that brand.

In this third set of 2020 predictions, communicators anticipate strong demand for mergers and acquisitions of PR firms, a rise in personalized stories and PR pros increasing their use of sophisticated data as audiences become more difficult to reach. Other predictions include a fierce response from healthcare to political criticism and an increase in relationships with non-traditional media outlets.

As is our tradition, in late November PRNEWS asked senior communicators to prognosticate about the coming year. This is the first installment of a multi-part series containing their predictions for 2020. In this first installment, one of the dominant themes was the importance of personalization in various aspects of PR. We’ll run subsequent parts of this series throughout this week.

How can a pitch really stand out in a crowded inbox? A panel of experts from both sides of the comm fence including Laura Brusca, vice president for corporate communications at Forbes, Tom Butts, content director at TV Technology, Monica Melton, assistant editor at Forbes Innovation, Howard Mortman, director of communications at CSPAN and Seth Gilpin, product marketing manager at Cision, dispensed wisdom at the How to Pitch Reporters on Email panel at the PRNEWS Media Relations Conference on Dec. 13 in Washington, D.C..

TV journalist Soledad O’Brien offered attendees at last week’s PRNEWS Media Relations Conference plenty of tips about storytelling and pitching. For example, when telling an ostensibly dry policy story, she looks for people whose lives are affected by the policy.

Journalists and public relations experts discussed adapting to new media strategies at the PRNEWS Media Relations Conference in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 13. The panel, “Rethinking Media Relations in the Age of New Media,” included Brandon Arolfo, head of PBS digital studios, Sara Fischer, media reporter for Axios, Nicole Smith, director of corporate communications at IAC and Katina Arnold, vice president, corporate communications at ESPN.

Press releases may be fading in popular PR practice, but in some cases they’re part of the regulatory regime. Business Wire, a distributor of press releases, and the data firm Onclusive collaborated on a survey of 17,000 press releases. Some of its findings are surprising.

Not every PR project or new client is glamorous. On the other hand, PR pros exist to generate coverage, among their many other duties. Here is a series of 8 questions that will help communicators unearth news and interesting story material in any sector. You should ask them of your executives twice monthly. At least.