How to get press in a time of shrinking newsrooms

Newsrooms are vanishing at a terrifying rate. Last week alone, CNN cut 100 jobs and The LAist got rid of 21. But PR pros are still hungry for the coverage the remaining journalists can provide, which means strategies must change.

We asked PR professionals on LinkedIn how they get press in a time of ever-shrinking newsrooms. Here’s what they said, with responses edited for brevity and style.

Padraic Swanton, public relations manager, William Blair

It’s always been a needle-in-a-haystack game. The haystack is bigger and there are less needles, but the smart identification of the right outlet and reporter for the right source at the right time remains the same.

Hunter Stuart, vice president media relations, Walker Sands 

I use my relationships, I speak in layman’s terms, and I cut out 90% of the promotional jargon that a lot of other media relations professionals might include.

I also rely on brevity. I regularly see pitches that are far too long. Shrewd reporters don’t need more than 150 words to know whether there’s a story or not. I find that more junior media relations professionals will sometimes take the “kitchen sink” approach. They try to include everything they possibly can in the hopes that something will catch the reporter’s attention. But good media relations often means knowing how to communicate the bare minimum needed to get a conversation going.

Jessica Brodkin Web, freelance journalist

Chiming in here as a former staff writer:

1. Provide a couple of options for coverage because we’re stretched thin and our schedules are wonky: can you pitch a story as both an evergreen or a last-minute story? Suggesting a couple of approaches gives us different coverage options.
2. Make assets easy. No extra passwords, Dropbox links, or extra email confirmations.
3. Be realistic. Not everything warrants a feature story.
4. Pitch your story so it can be used across multiple publications because chances are, we’re working for a company that has to cover several pubs with limited resources. If you find a way for me to link a story across a few pubs, I’m more likely to put it on the calendar than one which is too niche to warrant the time involved.

Ben Haber, executive vice president, Racepoint Global

Generating media coverage requires a more thoughtful approach to determining what’s newsworthy, and effectively telling a story that journalists will be interested in. However, PR also needs to look beyond the newsroom and identify other ways to generate content that adds value. Influencers and analysts are also looking for good stories to tell and can reach key audiences when engaged correctly.

Dave Reddy, lead, media influence/practice, Big Valley Marketing

The first question you need to answer isn’t how to get ink — it’s what is the best, most compelling story we can tell that serves the business objectives of our company/clients? If you do that, whether it ends up in “earned” or another channel, you’ve won. To be sure, earned is my favorite kind of win. But developing the best, most compelling, most strategic story for our clients is our job. Getting ink is just one way to tell that story. We have to end the mindset that it is the only way.

Tyler Gagnon, associate director, corporate communications, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

I seek out reporters who compile weekly roundups of relevant coverage related to my news (i.e., personnel roundup), or who will cover important conferences and produce a round-up of news coming out of that conference, as they are often looking for updates and trends.

Kat Aronofsky, PR account director, Matter Communications

We’re being more mindful of embargos and lengthening the timeline for a response and/or coverage. Very few journalists have 48 hours or less to review and craft a story. This, coupled with ensuring they have everything they need in the first communication, has been helpful.

Alex Tekip, public relations manager at Michigan State University

Provide reporters with assets! Give them photos, video interviews, B-roll, links to podcasts that they can use in their story when sending a pitch or press release. With many reporters acting as a one-person band — filming video, recording audio and capturing images in addition to writing a story — this makes their job immensely easier, which makes it more likely for you to get coverage. And, it’s something the reporter will remember: they know they can trust you to give them more than what they need, and may continue to come to you with future asks.

Anya Nelson, SVP, public relations practice lead at Scratch Marketing + Media

The thing that always works well is exclusive data pulls. If you’re a B2B platform provider and have a few data analyst resources to spare, your platform can be a great data mining source. The data pulls can be tailored by geo, industry, customer size, etc. You can tell all kinds of stories through proprietary data (even if it’s anonymized) — novel trends, societal impact and so on, as long as you’re willing to put in the work on mining, organizing and packaging it for the reporters. And make sure that your data pulls speak to what’s currently in the news cycles / headlines. They have to be topical, timely and unique (don’t state the obvious). And of course, exclusivity goes a long way.

Kevin Pérez-Allen, chief communications officer, United States of Care

One, audience mapping. Rather than a scattershot approach, we learn where they get their news and develop relationships with those journalists.

Two, depends on the relevance. We won’t ALWAYS focus on healthcare policy reporters, because some of our work isn’t relevant to them. Instead it’s ensuring that what we do lines up with what the reporter/outlet cares about.

Three, being a valuable source of information. Having something to say, providing insight or information, and offering to help without demanding a quote in the published piece is extremely valuable in relationship building and securing coverage.

Finally, understanding that stories don’t always come from pitches or relationships. Viral social posts often generate a news hit, so if something that goes is relevant to your work (or even better, is created by you), be ready to weigh in with a hot take or relevant level-setting that pertains to the viral moment.

Aaron Gouveia, director of public relations, Mass Audubon

I push back more internally on stories that aren’t truly newsworthy enough to command attention in the age of shrinking newsrooms and dwindling resources.

The best way to get consistent attention for pitches is to have empathy for journalists and develop a relationship in which they trust you’re not sending them something that isn’t worth their time. That way, when they hear from you, they know it’s genuinely important.

Elliott Burr, senior director, executive, crisis & corporate communications, Juniper Networks

Be your own publisher. Of course, news coverage carries different weight than vendor content, but done right (i.e., telling an actual good story or sharing a compelling perspective vs hawking product), I firmly believe you can drive similar impact on owned channels and even more surgically engage the right audiences.

Marsha Lovejoy, global public relations manager, Cook Medical

Very targeted pitching using the silver platter approach. The goal for my team is to provide everything that the reporter could possibly need to make their jobs easier. Experts, photos, videos, factsheets, etc. all delivered on a silver platter. And, absolutely no “stretch” pitches. When we bring stories to a reporter, we make sure it’s of value to their readership.

Lauren Stralo, director of public relations, LevLane

Go where your target audience is! Preach (and preach again) the value of trade outlets and smaller publications to both your clients and executives at your organization. A feature story in a smaller trade publication can be more valuable than a quote in the New York Times.