What journalists want from PR people

Journalists consider academics and CEOs to be the most credible sources for their reporting, far more than corporate communications professionals and agency PR reps, according to a new report published by Muck Rack.

Of the 2,482 journalists surveyed in January, 86% cited academics as the most credible, 75% said CEOs, 55%, corporate comms professionals, and 34%, PR agencies, according to “The State of Journalism 2021: Reporting, social media habits and preferences for working with PR in the year of Covid-19.”

Despite the strain of covering the pandemic, the majority of them are optimistic about their profession.

“Last year was a challenging year for journalists and the industry as a whole. Just a few months into the year, 94% of journalists completely pivoted most or all of their reporting to angles related to Covid-19. Add to that, 23% reported they have a larger workload due to layoffs and furloughs,” Muck Rack CEO Greg Galant says. “But still, journalists remain hopeful about the industry—58% of say they are optimistic about the journalism profession, which is consistent with findings over the past three years.”