Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
In this report, we looked at the challenges journalists face, the frustrations they deal with and the ways in which they work. They value their relationships with PR professionals, but there is a need and an opportunity for PR professionals to provide even more value.
As the business of communications is a two-way street, with publicists and journalists relying on each other, some themes and variations resonated powerfully from the results of Cision’s 2022 State of the Media survey, from which this report was developed.
Journalists are overworked and under-resourced.
Most journalists are covering multiple beats and filing multiple stories per week, all while being inundated with (often inapt) requests for coverage. Showing a little patience and a lot of consideration can go a long way towards building trust and better relationships (and better coverage). Respect their deadlines, understand what their audiences find relevant, and provide the information and assets they need up front.
A picture is worth more than a thousand words
Journalists are using images, videos, infographics and other multimedia assets more than ever. Much of the time, the onus is on them to track those elements down. The more that you provide relevant and appropriate content up front – with captions and credits – the easier you make it for them to cover your story, and the more likely they will want to work with you in the future.
Long live the press release
For all the changes the media has seen in recent years, one thing remains the same: press releases are still one of the most powerful vehicles for getting your news, story, product or event in front of the right journalists and helping those journalists generate stories.
The art and science of social media outreach.
Social media provides additional avenues to connect with journalists, but the same rules of “traditional” outreach apply –journalists have their own specific preferences for how they want to be approached, and they can smell a generic, copy-and-paste message a mile away.
Personalisation is powerful
Journalists are begging for more personalised outreach. Yes, journalists are open to connecting on social media, but the approach has to be right. Multimedia is great, but only if the provided assets make sense for their medium, and even the most well-crafted press releases don’t hold any weight if the content isn’t relevant.
For public relations and communications professionals who want to make the biggest impact, building relationships with the media is essential. Doing the legwork up front to understand your audience of journalists (and the audiences they serve) will make the single biggest difference in your ability to capture their attention and lay the foundation for a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership down the line.
2022 State of the Media Report
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