5 Takeaways from the Cision “State of the Media” Roundtable

Cision invited experts from TechCrunch, Yahoo! Finance and Toronto Star to discuss the results from their annual State of the Media Survey and share insights regarding the impact of COVID-19 on their industry and roles. As media mavens, we always keep our pulse on the world of journalism, so we hopped on to hear the latest.

There were not many surprises from the report because the same holds true. Most public relations (PR) pros – whether they be external or internal – do not properly interact with the media. In fact, only one percent of respondents consider 75-100% of the pitches they receive as relevant. With decades of experience under our belt, we know that you should follow best practices like research the journalist’s work, know their beat, tailor the pitch, keep it concise, avoid buzzwords, don’t follow up too much, etc.

But there were five insightful takeaways that we have summarized for your convenience below in case you do not have time to read the report or watch the webinar.

COVID-19: Helpful vs. Hitch a Wagon

If you are asking yourself – am I able to only pitch coronavirus-related stories or can I pitch something unrelated – the answer is yes.

The report states: “Journalists are realistic about COVID-19 fatigue setting in on audiences, but as this is a fluid situation most audiences still want regular updates, especially on a local level. One journalist mentioned that non-COVID-19 feature readership was also up, so if you have a feel-good local story don’t be afraid to pitch it.”

The three journalists on the webinar stated they are all only focused on coronavirus-related stories at this time. And related, the report notes that some [media outlets] have transitioned entire staffs to cover COVID-19 and other types of stories have been put on hold.

When pitching a coronavirus-related story though, Anthony Ha of TechCrunch cautioned to “Be helpful versus hitch a wagon.” He has received some pitches that have been way too much of a stretch. That is when the pitch becomes distasteful. You risk your reputation plus the brand/company that you are representing.

They are People Too

Anthony Ha said it best on the webinar: “… remember a journalist is a person versus just a receptacle for your pitch.” Coronavirus or not, all PR pros should be kind to and respectful of journalists.

But, especially now, journalists are stressed out just like the rest of us. Sarah Paynter of Yahoo! Finance commented, “A lot of journalists are feeling burnout – it’s an overwhelming time.” As a result, she is not responding to as many emails. She emphasized the serious toll negative news can have on everyone, including journalists.

Anthony recounted a recent email from a PR pro who simply emailed him to check in to see how he was doing, which went a long way with him.

Virtual Environment Changes Creative Process

Julie Carl of Toronto Star explained that her stories evolve better when in a newsroom because of the casual, impromptu conversations that naturally happen when sitting side-by-side. As a result, she has had to alter her creative process for developing a story.

What does this mean for the PR pro? In our opinion, it simply underlines the point that their job (like most everyone else’s right now) is more difficult than ever as challenges abound.

One report respondent commented: “Thoughtful, targeted pitches are always a good idea and a little extra humanity and patience go a long way in the current environment.”

Our advice: do not get frustrated; be sympathetic and do your job in crafting a hyper-relevant pitch.

They are Struggling with How to Handle Uncertainty Too

One respondent in the report said, “Be aware that we’re struggling just as much to figure out what comes next.”

When asked about the future of the media landscape and PR, Anthony responded that he has already been wrestling with how to incorporate uncertainty into journalism, and he will continue to do so. Because there is so much unknown and the situation is constantly evolving, he thinks ahead to the type of language he’ll use in the months to come, such as “… this is what the experts are saying …” or “… seems this is what the prediction is but we don’t know …”

Being Too Out-of-the-Box Will Backfire

I recently saw a local television reporter tweet that a PR professional found his wedding registry and sent a press release to the couple’s wedding email address. Sure; as PR pros, we must be creative, but journalists are looking to us to be creative in our words and story ideas, not the delivery method. [The television reporter smiled at the approach, but it did not seem to result in coverage.]

When asked about a pitch in the format of a video, the panel responded unanimously. “No.” Sarah stated, “It’s just not a realistic way for me to process information.”

The panel had a similar reaction to the age-old question about pitching via social media. As I have heard a million times before, they still prefer PR pros use email.

Need help from the pros to navigate the media landscape? Check out our new pandemic support packages here.

Or, if you’d like to watch the 11th Annual State of the Media on demand, click here.