Source:
https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-gen3c-1412308
With media outlets shuttering and reporter beats expanding, getting our clients’ stories told continues to be a challenge. The good news is PR pros are resilient, creative, and smart. In this episode we talk about all the ways to navigate this wave of media madness with success!
Transcript:
Michelle Kane (00:02):
Thank you for joining us for an episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves like me. I'm Michelle Kane, my company is VoiceMatters, and I'm here as always with the wonderful Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. How are you?
Karen Swim, APR (00:19):
I am doing great, Michelle. How are you?
Michelle Kane (00:21):
I'm well, I'm well, thanks. And I'm kind of excited about our topic today. Oh, what the heck. I love all our topics, but we're just going to focus on media madness. You know, it's been really kind of a bummer lately. All of these outlets shuttering, BuzzFeed, Vice, Fox, no, Vox is still happening.
Karen Swim, APR (00:40):
Vox is still there…
Michelle Kane (00:42):
Let's not put that out there. <laugh>.
Karen Swim, APR (00:44):
But hey do rely on donations. They do great work by the way.
Michelle Kane (00:47):
They do, they do. I think it was Vulture and it's, I mean, not only is it sad when good outlets are just closing down due to finances, but it kind of makes our job as PR pros more of a challenge, especially if you are working in sectors that would pitch often to those outlets or just rely on them, and as news consumers for covering areas of our world that really need that kind of coverage. So we just want to chat today about “Hey, how's it going with your pitching?” And how can we best adapt to this in service of our clients? So fun <laugh>.
Karen Swim, APR (01:37):
Yeah. And we don't want to trot out the same, like, don't only push the lever of earned media. It's really about the landscape is pretty ugly right now. And in some sectors, it's slow. It's not that you're not going to get coverage, but things take a lot longer than they used to. And part of that is due to the changes that have happened in the media landscape. People not having always one assigned beat. They're covering multiple beats or publications using a lot of freelancers, and so they don't have people on staff. And then people just being bombarded, probably a little burned out, and a little scared also because they have many attacks against their income sources. You know, freelancers have had to go with the California fallout and that cut their income because they could only work so many stories before they were considered to be employees. I mean, there's just been a lot in media over the past several years. Now there's the AI thing, and I will say that it's not just about outlets and journalists. What I'm seeing, and I'm sure that you all are seeing this too, is that there are fewer and fewer quality stories.
Michelle Kane (03:03):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yes.
Karen Swim, APR (03:03):
So really to just general topics. I'm not talking about covering politics or the economy. Those reporters have a beat, and the publications that do that work still do it very well. And you get high quality stories. The long form reads are still great stories. You know, The Atlantic, they always do a nice job with their long form stories. I'm talking about those day-to-day news stories. I'm finding that the quality is so shallow and it's just, it's like, okay, why did you even bother to write this? It's almost like they're just filling, you know,
Michelle Kane (03:44):
Filling unsold ad space.
Karen Swim, APR (03:46):
Say it. Yeah. It's, it's not great. Yeah.
Michelle Kane (03:49):
And yeah.
Karen Swim, APR (03:51):
And so when it comes to clients, in terms of finding quality places to tell those stories it may have shifted. I think one thing is that we have to remember that even if your expertise is not in internal communications, that there is a place for the PR pro to ensure that those stories are not only being told externally. Think about the stories that you can help your clients to tell internally. Which is vitally important in these times as companies are dealing with reductions in force. They're dealing with talent recruitment. They're dealing with policies that may be shifting. They may have some employee discontent, the Great Resignation, all of the things that are happening at work, internal stories are part of how we can truly help to impact our clients' businesses. And them being able to leverage that and to strengthen their employer brand is, is as important as driving revenue to the bottom line with those external stories.
Michelle Kane (05:06):
Yeah, that's so true. And you know, I know many companies, especially larger corporations, are very good at their internal comms, and they know how to fold it, you know, to weave it throughout and, and they realize the importance of their internal audience and how