The contemporary media environment is transforming significantly, reducing opportunities for journalists and content creators and making public relations efforts more challenging.
This week, dozens of jobs will be lost as the Nine-owned Pedestrian Group announced a restructure, including a plan to stop licensing overseas titles. Sadly that means the end of Australian editorial teams for Vice, Gizmodo, Refinery29, Kotaku and Lifehacker. The loss of editorial roles is awful, but it also has implications for brand PR opportunities, as these publications are renowned for product testing and reviews. During the pandemic, News Corp cut around 100 local newspaper mastheads, again a tragedy for the journalists working there but also detrimental for small businesses wanting to advertise or place sponsored content and earned media articles (PR) into their local paper. In 2020, Bauer Media permanently shut down eight titles, including InStyle, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar. More recently, Seven Network, Nine Media, and News Corp announced further restructures, resulting in the loss of hundreds of editorial and other roles. There are two ways to look at the issue for brands. The first is that with fewer journalists available to write or produce original content and more pressure on the remaining teams to make more with less, there will be more demand for quality pre-produced or ghostwritten content to place in media, which is a win for brands and PR firms. However, with fewer titles and fewer journalists to pitch to, it's a double-edged sword. There will be more competition for fewer available column inches, which means PRs or brand marketing teams need to develop, pitch, and produce higher-quality newsworthy content than their competitors to get noticed. Public Relations consultants must manage clients' expectations about what makes a good news story and dissuade them from weaker stories. Newsworthiness: Unless you work for a renowned blue-chip company with an iconic logo, your rebrand won't make the front page of the AFR. Heck, for the most part, no one outside your company will be interested. The same goes for new starter/promotion announcements. They will get traction in some industry media, but only expect tier-one coverage if your brand is renowned. Local relevance: A media release for an unfamiliar brand issued by an offshore head office without reference to the local operation wastes time. Make sure media releases are locally relevant. If you are forced to issue a generic international release, at least ensure it's amended to Australian spelling and you have a localised covering note accompanying it, outlining the relevance to the local market. Even then, don't expect too much coverage. Consider other ways to reach your target audience: I think we will see a greater emphasis on social media, including Linkedin, podcasts and speaking opportunities to reach audiences. All have been extremely popular for years anyway, but the demand for quality content in that space will amp up even more (and so too will the competition between brands). Quality human copy: While Gen AI can have benefits in terms of speed to create an article, you need to proofread it and ensure the article is fit for purpose (we can pretend no one uses it, but in truth, you can spot an AI story a mile off, and there's more of them out there these days). Please don't rely solely on AI to generate your article, and then simply pitch it using US spelling, Chat GPT format, and all. Human interest and relevance are critical to any article. Humans still have the edge on "being human", so proofread, sense-check, link-check and amend the copy appropriately. Better still, ask one of many (now) freelance journalists or PRs to craft/finesse it for you. It's what they (and we) do for a living. If in doubt, get help: PR consultants are often ex-journalists with a nose for news. Now, the market is also full of fantastic newly-freelance journalists who understand the news. We know what makes good news stories and have experience pitching to media. As the media landscape contracts and undergoes profound changes, competition for a smaller pool of opportunities will place significant pressure on media professionals and news sources. This will highlight the need for higher standards in news and content creation. It will also lead to a paradigm shift in how stories must be pitched to journalists from now on, with a greater emphasis on capturing the attention of a shrinking number of media platforms. This article first appeared on LinkedIn - 9 July 2024 Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/athletes-running-on-track-and-field-oval-in-grayscale-photography-34514/
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