We assume journalists decide what to cover based on what their readers want to know about, right? Maybe media relations pros are looking in the wrong direction when pitching.
A new study of 160 U.S. and 130 Canadian travel journalists from Development Counsellors International (DCI) finds this niche group of content producers is fairly different from many other journalists.
First, they overwhelmingly allow their personal preferences to dictate coverage. “Personal interest” dominated in determining story choices: 78 percent for U.S. travel media and 83 percent for their Canadian counterparts. “Assignments” determined coverage for 63 percent (U.S.) and 59 percent (Canadian), followed by “trends” (49 and 51 percent, respectively) and “pitches” (47 and 53 percent, respectively). DCI says these four sources have changed little since 2014.
It’s clear that PR pros pitching to U.S. and Canadian travel journalists need to concentrate on their targets’ interests. Learning such information can come from building personal relationships with journalists. Pitchers also can gain insight by following what the content provider has produced.
Other findings: Facebook is the dominant social platform for story generation with this group of content creators (Instagram is second). In addition, more than 60 percent of U.S. and Canadian travel journalists say they use social to generate story ideas.
In terms of outreach, 90 percent of both U.S. and Canadian travel media prefer email pitches (two paragraphs tops). And the ideal press trip is four days or more, with 75 percent of U.S. travel writers and 89 percent of Canadians supporting that length.
Podcasting: A Growth Industry
We continue to follow the statistics about podcasting from Nieman Lab’s HotPod newsletter with interest.
At the 6-month point of 2019, podcasts had 90 million U.S. monthly listeners. That’s 32 percent of the U.S. population, 12 and older, according to the Infinite Dial report from Edison and Triton Digital. Last year at this time the figure was 57 million.
Podcast ad revenue was $480 million in 2018, per an IAB/PwC study. The 2017 estimate was $314 million. Revenue is expected to top $1 billion in 2021.
Keep Your Ads Off My Data
Even though communicators know targeting consumers is a significant part of spreading the narrative, they realize ad fatigue is a reality. A new study from Visual Objects provides more evidence.
A survey of some 500 people who use ad-blocking tools finds nearly half (45 percent) say they would avoid a company’s website if that company targeted them with ads.
The study also finds baby boomers dislike highly targeted advertising most. A total of 72 percent say data collection from ads seems like an invasion of privacy. The younger generations also dislike such data collection, but less so: 58 percent of millennials and 64 percent of Generation X feel their privacy is violated when ads collect information about them. The thinking is younger people are accustomed to online life and have long known companies are capturing data.
Interestingly, the study finds gen Xers (47 percent) and millennials (41 percent) are most likely to pay for ad-free browsing. Only 29 percent of baby boomers will do so.
In the U.S., 25 percent of internet users will deploy ad-blocking technology on at least one of their one of their internet-connected devices, says eMarketer. For the second year in a row eMarketer downgraded its forecast for growth in ad-blocking in the U.S.
Slower Federal Election Spending
Money in U.S. politics is rampant, correct? Maybe, but even that has its limits, says Kantar Media. It’s predicting $6 billion will be spent on political campaign ads for election to federal offices during the 2019-2020 cycle.
That represents 14 percent growth vs 2018, but it’s also a downer. The growth in 2018 spending was 21 percent, Kantar says.
It’s not a surprise, though, that a greater share of campaign ad spending will flow toward digital channels this time. Of the $6 billion in political campaign spending, Kantar expects 20 percent, or $1.2 billion, to go to digital.
TV remains the dominant beneficiary of campaign ad spending. Cable and broadcast television split some 75 percent of the ad spending on federal election campaigns.
Editor’s Note:The DCI report on travel journalists and the survey from Visual Objects about ad-blocking are available at the PRNEWS Resources Center. In addition, a reminder. As a paid subscriber to PRNEWS you are entitled to 33 percent discounts on PRNEWS webinars and events. Contact Carol Brault ([email protected]) for information.