Beyond Sound Bites: The “New” Newsroom

Canada’s newsrooms have undergone a radical overhaul in the past three years. The economic downturn in 2008 led to hundreds of newsroom jobs lost — many of which belonged to seasoned reporters (of which several have now become bloggers). The fallout has meant an increase in the number of freelance journalists, as well as the hiring of younger staff right out of journalism school who get general assignment stories and whose perspectives and methods of gathering news differ from their more senior counterparts.

The merging of news media has also changed the role of the average journalist from one that is oriented strictly toward a print, broadcast or online format to one that is a hybrid of all three. For example, today’s newspaper reporters must not only consider the written word, but complement them with photos and video content for online and social media formats.

These developments have forced journalists to do a lot more with less, making them more reliant on outside sources of news from PR and the social media sphere. When looking to engage the news media, consider the following:

1. Clearly communicate why your pitch is timely and relevant and tailor it for all forms of media — print, broadcast and digital
2. Journalists are busier than ever so don’t rely on e-mail alone to get their attention; pick up the phone, or leverage social media tools like Twitter and LinkedIn to build and maintain strong relationships
3. Send media timely and interesting information between pitches so they keep you and your organization top of mind
4. Make the journalist’s job easier; offer multiple spokespeople or sources on a given topic, and/or offer them pre-packaged news such as an Audio News Release (ANR) or a Video News Release (VNR) when possible
5. Be accessible; reporters are juggling multiple stories on tight timelines so the quicker they can get information or a sound bite from you, the more likely they’ll be to come back to you in the future

Fast facts:

According to a 2010 PRWeek/PR Newswire  Media Survey:

• Pitches to journalists through a social network in 2010 resulted in coverage approximately 70% of the time
• 70% of journalists say their workload increased last year with the primary cause being the need to contribute to online content
• While 50% of journalists see their role as educating and informing the masses, 20% see it as breaking news and chronicling events as they happen (up from 5% in 2009)
• 60% of Canadian media say that building their own personal brand is important to them
• 52% of bloggers now view themselves as journalists

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