State of the Media Report 2024 reviewed, from the journalist’s PoV
Imagine being a journalist, inundated with media pitches and press releases on a daily basis. As much as one in two journalists receive 50 pitches per week and most of them hit the trash bin, often after just reading the heading.
Getting into the mindset of a journalist is one of the biggest challenges of PR pros. Building successful and meaningful journalist relationships is their biggest need. Here’s the low-down on the new Cision 2024 State of the Media Report as seen from the Editor’s desk rather than from the PR Pros content pitching stack.
Just last month my colleague Caitlin Goldsmith picked out the key highlights from the Muck Rack State of PR Report 2024, which you can read here. Now, we have Cision’s 2024 State of the Media Report, where over 3,000 media professionals, influencers, and bloggers across 19 countries were surveyed to find out what is changing in the world of journalism, and identify the challenges imposed by factors such as changing audience behaviours, industry downsizing, and not least of all, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence.
That’s from the PR pro’s perspective. But what about from the journalist’s?
The social media hierarchy for the journo: Instagram takes the top spot
In this digital era, it’s important to note the different social platforms that journalists digest information on. With only 3% of journalists surveyed in the report not using social media for work, social platforms hold too much value to be missed.
In the Cision report, Instagram was a clear winner for 44% of journalists to publish and promote content, source information, and interact with audiences, and while some newer platforms such as Threads, WhatsApp, and TikTok are gaining some ground, journalists are still favoring the tried-and-tested social platforms. Following Instagram was LinkedIn with 39% and Facebook at 34% (a platform that didn’t even reach the top five in last year’s report)!
Now, we all know about the demise of X, confirmed in the Muck Rack report (16%) and now further backed by the Cision report – X was only favored by 24% of journalists! It’s reaching the tipping point time for Mr. Musk!
AI in the hot seat – a tool or a foe for journalists?
Of course, we can’t bypass AI. Stats show that 53% of journalists are not using Gen-AI tools at all, with 28% claiming to use them a little. Common use cases reported were for researching certain topics or for creating early outlines and drafts for content.
With the vast rise in use of AI globally, it’s no wonder that “Maintaining credibility as a trusted news source/combating accusations of fake news” was a top challenge for just under half of journalists in the last year!
The report highlights that “Even though AI has emerged as one of the biggest challenges for journalism, a significant number of journalists have experimented with it, indicating that they are open to AI if it makes sense, can be validated, and used responsibly.” So the jury’s still out.
Get drafting! How to prepare the perfect PR pitch
As we mentioned at the start of this blog, one in two journalists receive 50 pitches per week. So, standing out in the inbox means your pitch needs to hit the spot! It’s no easy feat, and what will work for one journalist in one region, may be completely different for another.
AI generated pitches won’t wash with today’s journos. They are able to spot an AI-generated pitch from the first sentence – and that’s usually the heading!
They want relevant pitches, expert connections, and data – in that order. Common sentiments of how to craft the perfect PR pitch included personalized, brief, to-the-point messages, sent with professionalism, and transparent communication.
Content must be kept creative, innovative, empathetic, and human. Journalists want honest, factual, relevant content, and they want it delivered to their inbox in a well thought-through pitch!
In North America alone, 76% of journalists state that understanding target audiences and what they find relevant will be a top driver in making journalist lives easier.
The press release takes top spot!
The power of the press release still lives on! Nearly three in four journalists claim that press releases are still the top content they like to receive from PR pros. For 68% of journalists surveyed, press releases are the most useful source for generating ideas and content, followed by direct pitches (47%) and industry experts (47%).
So be careful how much you spend on those independent research reports!
You’re the hunter – get to know your quarry!
It’s crucial that PR pros take the time to understand journalist preferences. It’s about knowing what content resonates well with your industry journalists, on what platform, and in what style.
Go general (or go Gen-AI), means lost in the journo’s email archives, binned for life or worse still – marked up as spam!
Georgia Harris is PR Lead Themes at IBA International.
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