Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
In 2010, Vocus, a public relations software company that would eventually become CISION, released its first State of the Media report. Now, nine years later, CISION released the 10th annual State of the Media report. The report shares unique insights about the industry and specifically highlights journalists’ perspectives on different topics and trends, serving as a useful resource in navigating media relationships.
As with most annual reports, the State of the Media report has evolved over the last decade. Originally, it was written as a white paper, with detailed analysis of the current state of the industry with predictions from Vocus’ Media Research Group. The report focused on the large number publication closures and reporter layoffs. It also highlighted trends believed to become more commonplace, including paywalls and online publications.
Now, the report is built around survey responses from thousands of journalists and analyzes the current trends influencing the industry. With 10 reports completed, I thought it would be interesting to see how the industry has evolved.
What Predictions Came True from 2010?
The original report was written not long after the Great Recession, which greatly impacted the media industry. In 2009, approximately 293 papers folded, and major newspapers had 421 layoffs and buyouts.
Due to the dwindling number of staff and papers, the report predicted that journalists would be “performing dual roles” and that more papers would adopt the paywall model. Clearly, both predictions came true.
As PR professionals, we see many journalists covering broad beats and needing to learn about a variety of topics that fall under those beats. For example, many reporters cover “tech.” This beat requires reporters to understand a broad range of technologies, including SaaS, IoT, AI, ERP, VR, etc. The breadth of topics that fall under one beat often makes it more difficult to develop a deep understanding of each variety of technology and stay up to date on the latest trends.
In response, PR professionals have become an important resource that can assist journalists in understanding specific trends and offer key industry experts to support the development of their stories.
Key Takeaways from 2019’s Report
As predicted in 2010, many publications are now available online and that has enabled readers to engage with content in unique ways and given journalists tools to track that engagement, which are playing a role in how journalists are evaluating stories. According to the 2019 report, 65 percent of journalists say availability of detailed audience metrics has changed the way they evaluate stories.
The survey analyzed how journalists from different countries valued different metrics. In the U.S., readership was the most important, closely followed by engagement. No matter the country, readership was the leading metric. The most engaging content has images, infographics and personalized data analysis. All resources that PR professionals and brands can assist in developing and offer to journalists.
Interestingly, staffing, a challenge that began around the time of the first report, continues to be one of the biggest challenges for journalists. Twenty percent of journalists said “staffing and resources” is the biggest challenge.
While the industry continues to face problems it faced in 2009, the third most common challenge is more recent: the ongoing conversation about fake news. CISION asked journalists if they felt the public had lost or gained trust over the last year, 63 percent said they believe the public lost trust. Though the number is high, its down significantly from 2017, when 91 percent of journalists believed the public had lost trust in them.
Be a Valuable Resource
The troubles that plague the industry also present an opportunity for PR professionals to act as a key resource for journalists. PR professionals can craft tailored pitches and unique stories, but also serve as a resource by driving new content, creating graphics and offering key experts to bolster a story.
Based on the 2019 report, it appears PR professionals are trending upward. In 2018, only 9 percent of reporters said their relationships with PR professionals had gotten better. This year, that number has increased to 27 percent.
Keep up the good work!
PR professionals, like journalists, marketing professionals and other communications specialists, frequently traffic in media consumption – and there is no shortage of content. The influx of information is constant and ready for consumption, whether it’s CNN’s running news ticker on your TV screen or a scrollable list of news articles on your smartphone’s news app, or even the personal news feed on your Facebook or Twitter account.
Our 24/7 news cycle has shown that a new story is always right around the corner to occupy the public’s attention and satiate its craving for novelty. News junkies, whatever their poison – politics, crime, celebrities, sports – can always get their fix.
Sociologists, psychologists and other experts have long speculated the effects that a constant news cycle and fixation on social media have on the minds and attention spans of consumers. They’ve cautioned that a “fear of missing out” on breaking news and social media updates may lead to more fragmented public discussion and that a certain “social acceleration” – or the increasing rates of change within collective attention — is at play. But such a claim was largely hypothetical and lacked supporting empirical evidence. That is, until recently.
A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications presented findings supporting that such rates of change are occurring and narrowing our collective attention span across the domains of social media, books, movies and other media.
The study was conducted by a team of European scientists from Berlin Institute of Technology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany, University College Cork in Ireland and Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
The team’s findings were based on studying Twitter data from 2013 to 2016, as well as books from Google Books going back the last 100 years, movie ticket sales dating back 40 years, and citations of scientific publications from the last quarter century. The studies also relied on data from Google Trends from 2010 to 2018, Reddit from 2010 to 2015, and Wikipedia from 2012-2017.
Researchers found “empirical evidence of ever-steeper gradients and shorter bursts of collective attention” attributed to each cultural item, resulting in a rapid exhaustion of limited-attention resources. To paraphrase, these cultural items rose in popularity faster than before but also fell out of it more quickly, with the researchers determining that the production of more content in less time is fatiguing our collective attention.
One example of the scientists’ findings came from a deep dive into the daily top 50 hashtags worldwide on Twitter, in which the scientists found that peaks have become steeper and more frequent. In 2013, a hashtag stayed in the top 50 for an average of 17.5 hours. In 2016, this decreased to 11.9 hours.
“The shortened peak of public interest for one topic is directly followed by the next topic, because of the fierce competition for novelty,” the researchers wrote.
The researchers found similar results for comments on Reddit and movie sales at the box office, though these results weren’t mirrored for scientific papers and Wikipedia entries.
DTU researcher Professor Sune Lehmann noted the importance of following up this study by researching beyond the effects on our collective attention and exploring how an overabundance of information affects the attention spans of individuals.
“We hope that more research in this direction will inform the way we design new communication systems, such that information quality does not suffer even when new topics appear at increasing rates,” Lehmann said.
Read the study in its entirety here.
WGU Washington continues to disrupt the higher education space with an innovative, student-first model. With higher education costs soring and the needs of the workforce rapidly changing, WGU Washington offers a flexible and affordable online model that provides students with the ability to learn independent of time and place. This approach makes higher education more accessible by allowing individuals to fit their education into their lives, not the other way around.
We are honored to partner with WGU Washington to continue to raise awareness and build thought leadership for the university and its leadership through a combination of news coverage, placement of content and pursuit of awards.
For instance, we worked with WGU Washington Chancellor Tonya Drake on a series of opinion pieces highlighting mission-driven initiatives for the university such as employment resources for military spouses and state funding for low-income college students. We hope this fuels further discussion and thought about how to address these important issues.
More recently, we worked with Rob Smith at Seattle Business magazine to feature Tonya and her mentor, Edmonds Community College President Emeritus Jean Hernandez, in a cover story about the importance of cultivating the leaders of tomorrow. Giving back and paying it forward is part of Tonya’s DNA and is also a value that is evident in the university’s student-centric approach.
Outlined below are the earned media coverage highlights we secured on behalf of WGU Washington after naming Dr. Tonya Drake as chancellor in the spring of 2018.
- Seattle Business: Mentoring Promising Female Talent Cultivates Tomorrow’s Seattle Business Leaders – 05/01/19
- 425 Business: Secrets of Success – 04/22/19
- The Herald (Everett): Commentary: Turning a grant into the promise of education – 4/07/19
- NBC (KNDU/KNDO): #SheDidThat Lifetime Campaign Honors Local Teacher – 04/05/19
- The Columbian: Drake: Transformed grant invests in future – 03/24/19
- The Daily News (Longview): We must invest in Washington’s future – 03/22/19
- Seattle Business: Daring Women Q&A: Tonya Drake, Chancellor of Western Governors University Washington – 01/30/19
- LinkedIn (longform article): Trends Impacting Access to Higher Education in 2019 – 12/27/18
- The Herald (Everett): Commentary: Employers need to reach out to military spouses – 11/11/18
- Tri-City Herald: On Veterans Day, think also of military spouses – 11/08/18
- Seattle Business: 2018 Community Impact Awards: Job Training – 10/26/18
- Seattle Business: The Winners: 2018 Community Impact Awards – 10/26/18
- The Herald (Everett): Evergreen Speedway driver also racing on East Coast – 08/08/18
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s The Military Wire: WGU Positions Veterans for Success in High Demand Cyber Security Field – 06/25/18
- The Seattle Times: State WGU leader aims to double student enrollment – 05/07/18
- KING 5: Celebrate WGU Washington’s largest graduating class this weekend – 04/26/18
These results are encouraging but our charge continues. There is plenty more to come – stay tuned.
One of my favorite aspects of working at Communiqué PR, and in an agency in general, is being able to dive into different industries, learn new perspectives, and secure deep understandings about a variety of businesses and their markets. From the manufacturing and telecommunications industries, to consumer products and enterprise software solutions, there is never a shortage of learning opportunities or the challenge to create and tell a compelling story.
In addition to the industries above, we also work with a handful of leaders in the education space. These partners include St. Thomas School (STS), an independent K-8 school in Medina; Western Governors University (WGU) Washington, an online competency-based university; and Intentional Futures (iF), an innovation studio who partners with visionary leaders to solve problems in the education sector, among many others.
Within the last few months, we have had the opportunity to amplify some of the great work and innovation being driven by these groups. Below is a recap of some of the results we were able to secure, and a peek into the types of capabilities we tailor on behalf of our clients.
Bringing a story to life through broadcast
STS’ model for integrating technology into the classroom has received the attention of education leaders around the world who have traveled to the school to absorb techniques and best practices for integration. In March, delegations from Germany and Japan visited the school to learn more about STS’ approach.
Eager to tell this story and share how a local school is leading EdTech curriculum worldwide, we reached out to KING5 to help bring this story to life.
Love to local magazines
When partnering with WGU Washington and STS, local outlets are key to reaching each organizations’ target audiences. For both schools, print and digital magazines are great mediums to communicate with these audiences, while also amplifying general brand awareness among the community. We monitor magazine’s editorial calendars for relevant themes and opportunities to share our clients’ announcements, events and stories.
Recently, STS was recognized in 425 Magazine’s Best of 425 as the Best Private Elementary School and Best Children’s Art Program. The recipients are selected by the community through a voting process, which we highlighted to STS for consideration. As a result of our media outreach and ongoing proactive pitching, 425 Magazine also covered STS’ longstanding achievement as a Microsoft Showcase School, as well as one of its alumni’s dedication to increasing girls’ education by planning a 5K race supporting Rwanda Girls Initiative.
WGU Washington’s chancellor, Dr. Tonya Drake, was featured in Seattle Business’ Daring Women column, as well as on the cover of the magazine’s May issue with her long-term mentor. These stories were both results of the team’s media outreach and ongoing content development efforts to build Tonya’s thought leadership.
- 425 Magazine: Best of 425 2019
- 425 Magazine: 3 to See: Week of May 9
- 425 Magazine: St. Thomas School Continues Partnership with Microsoft
- Seattle Business: Daring Women Q&A: Tonya Drake, Chancellor of Western Governors University Washington
- Seattle Business: Mentoring Promising Female Talent Cultivates Tomorrow’s Seattle’s Business Leaders
Spreading awareness on social media
Intentional Futures (iF) partners with global game changers in education such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Mastery Transcript Consortium. We’ve worked closely with iF to amplify case studies and raise awareness of these impactful projects via social media.
Two projects iF recently designed in partnership with the Gates Foundation and Global Good, a collaboration with Intellectual Ventures, included a report on Executive Function’s role in improving student outcomes, and a website titled “Lessons in Courseware Development,” which is a resource offering adaptive courseware information to guide and increase educators’ access to digital tools and enhance student engagement.
We developed and distributed a series of social media content (tweets and LinkedIn posts) to help iF promote these projects among their followers. To stay up-to-date on the company’s work, follow iF on Twitter @intentfutures and via LinkedIn at Intentional Futures.
All three of these organizations in some way or another are working to increase access to education and learning tools. In partnering with iF, STS and WGU Washington we are able to build a broader awareness for the good they are doing.
Editorial coverage with broadcast and local magazines, as well as social media and community management, are just a few of examples of our capabilities and how we tailor strategies for our clients.
Interested in learning more about us or partnering with our team? Visit our website at https://communique.innovisionwebsites.com/.
As she moved the microphone closer to my face, I ran through my check list: Pause and think, speak in a measured manner, and don’t freak out – it’s not live.
Recently, a former colleague, Joleen Hughes, interviewed me for her podcast, The Lawyer Who Rocks. This was my first podcast interview as the interviewee.
I am used to being behind the scenes, the counselor training spokespersons. Rarely have I been the subject of the interview. My discomfort at being in front of the microphone was noticeable with my nervous tapping and dry mouth. However, it was a wonderful reminder of the pressure associated with being a spokesperson and reinforced the importance of the practices we recommend for our clients. Taking time to study up on the outlet and its audience, the particular interview (e.g., is it live, recorded, in person, over the phone, etc.), revisiting your key messages and current proof points, and establishing your agenda are all helpful practices in advance of a media interview – and will alleviate some of the pressures. (For more on this read: Mastering the Interview and Preparing for the Broadcast Interview.)
Core to these practices is being prepared. In the weeks leading up to my interview, I listened to past interviews Joleen had conducted on her podcast. I thought about what I could offer her listeners that might be of interest. I reflected on my experiences running our firm, lessons learned, what I was proud of, as well as what I envisioned for the future. The intent was to get grounded in what I had to share: my key messages.
I started to question the time spent preparing – have I invested too much time on this, should I be doing x, y or z instead, do I really have anything of value to offer? Ultimately though, when I sat down at the microphone and started fielding Joleen’s questions, the time preparing truly paid off. After getting used to the microphone’s proximity, I was able to relax and be confident in sharing my experiences as a business leader, what I learned, and what motivates me.
The opportunity to be a guest on her podcast has made me more empathetic to the pressure of media interviews. I have facilitated countless interviews and conducted media trainings for a variety of executives over the years – and perhaps I had grown a little desensitized to the anxiety an interview can cause when you are “in the hot seat.”
In addition to preparing in advance, here are some in-the-moment tips for your next media interview:
- Pause before responding. Consider the question asked and how you want to respond given the audience, your messages and your objectives
- Breathe and don’t rush through your responses. Speak in a measured pace and articulate clearly so the reporter and the broader audience can understand your comments clearly.
- Eliminate distractions. Turn off your computer screen. Avoid conducting an interview from your mobile phone while driving or doing something else. Turn off your device while conducting an in-person interview. Find a quiet place.
Fortunately, my media training experience and time spent preparing were of benefit. And as it wasn’t live, my “ums” and repetitive statements such as “that is a good question” could be edited out, to create a smoother, more articulate segment for listeners.
Thank you to Joleen, Tina Nole, Joelle Nole and the rest of the team at Larj Media!
You can listen to the resulting podcast here: Colleen Moffitt – Parole Officer turned PR Powerhouse
Whether you’re getting ready to graduate or you’ve been out of school for a while, continuing to be proactive about your PR education is crucial to your career development and long-term success in the industry.
As a recent graduate and fresh PR professional, I’ve realized how important it is to be familiar with current trends and themes – all the way from interacting with media to creating the most engaging social content. The industry continues lurching forward, with expectation to grow 9 percent according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, and being a recent graduate affords me a certain perspective around what education looks like externally and internally.
Below are some best practices on how to remain current in your PR education, whether a current college student or college graduate starting out in the field.
Current college students
Create and maintain relationships with your professors – As freshmen, we’re told to visit professors’ during their office hours to introduce ourselves. I can attest, even in a 500-person class, the professor will remember your face, if not your name. Building these relationships is not only good practice for future relationship-building but professors often have a solid network and are willing to share it.
Utilize your university’s online job/volunteer-search portals – Often, these portals allow you to customize your search by industry, job title, job type (internship, part-time, full-time) employer, and even location. Whether you’re hunting for a job or looking through all the available opportunities, this resource allows you to sleuth for all the possibilities. Not only are job portals helpful to recognizing possibilities but you’re able to examine various PR businesses’ websites to get a sense of how they function, their best practices, how large/small the business is, and more.
Current college students & college graduates:
Read books and articles – There are a handful of PR books and resources for educational articles. Communiquè’s very own founders, Colleen and Jennifer, wrote Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR, which is now used as a textbook at higher education institutions. Some of my other favorite books and websites are below:
- The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott
- Cutlip and Center’s Effective Public Relations by Glen Broom
- PR Daily
- ZEROto5IVE
Leverage LinkedIn and other professional networking sites – Over the years, LinkedIn has become a hub for building and maintaining company and personal brands. Additionally, it allows you to share and keep track of your achievements over the years and network with industry leaders. It is an especially useful tool when creating briefing documents for interviews.
In a flourishing industry, it’s crucial to be proactive in your PR education and hone your personal skills. Stay tuned, I’m exploring mine.