7 Tips for Building Dynamic Media Relationships

In our recent Comms Connect event in Beijing, Lynn Liu (as seen above), shared 7 tips based on the findings from our 2024 State of the Media (SOTM) Report that could help one foster fulfilling and mutually beneficial media relationships. 

For our 2024 State of the Media Report, we surveyed over 3K journalists across the globe. The overarching concept when it comes to nurturing such media relationships requires one to fully embrace channel innovations powered by new technologies so that media and communications professionals can communicate more efficiently with journalists. 

#1: Relevance is Key to Attract Attention

Did you know that more than half of journalists receive more than 50 pitches from companies every week? These pitches may include requests for publishing press releases, invitations to events, the provision of story leads or simply insights for the journalists. Unfortunately, 73% of journalists shared that less than 25% of those pitches were related to the content that they were covering. This is quite a jarring figure!

As such, one must do ample research before contacting the media, to fully understand the journalist’s 

• Writing style

• Genre and focus when it comes to the many scopes and topics

• Latest works, and of course,  

• Frequency of publishing releases

Once the above have been thoroughly sussed out, one can only have a clear understanding of whether his or materials or information would be deemed relevant to their targeted journalists. Pitching irrelevant resources to journalists would only be met with rejection and a complete waste of time and effort. Our advice? Do your background research for relevance before reaching out to journalists.

Through our survey results, we also found out that APAC journalists’ top priority is the provision of “data and key research,” where 63% of journalists found this to be the most helpful. Tied for second place is “understand my target audience and what they find relevant,” and “connecting me with experts, spokespersons and set up interviews”.  

The inverted pyramid of journalistic writing emphasizes, one should present information in descending order of importance. During PR outreaches, one should also adopt the same approach, and prioritize relevance. The most effective way to craft a successful pitch would likely be to waste no time and go straight to the point right from the start. 

#2: Providing Valuable Information to Journalists

Relevance might be key to everything, but are we aware of the most desired content from companies that journalists are after? For European and North American media, “News announcements/ press releases” are the most popular resource among journalists. For Asia-Pacific journalists, they prefer research reports instead. These journalists also value exclusivity of a source more than their European and American counterparts. There are many ways to define the term – valuable, but for journalists, these are the types of content they would deem as valuable.

#3: Enhance Credibility with Data 

Our survey results showed that journalists are increasingly getting more reliant on data to make editorial decisions as compared to the year before. Asia-Pacific journalists are making the most active use of data as compared to those in Europe and the States.  

The media is also measuring the performance of a story based on audience engagement metrics more extensively, and this could have a direct impact on a journalist’s income. Our contacts have shared that this is a practice that some newer media companies in China are adopting. 

With more data, journalists would be better able to tweak content that would appeal to readers. As a result, better content quality and enhanced credibility can be expected in the long run.  

#4: Play Up Content Visualization

Here’s a fun fact, in 1911, Arthur Brisbane, an American newspaper editor, put forth a statement, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” that is now not only used by millions around the world, but has become a mantra in the media and advertising world. 

Today pictures alone are not enough to express the depth and intricacies of rich narratives. The speed at which information is disseminated and how people are consuming content have been evolving with the pace of technological advancements, and it is a fast one! 

Take the behaviors of Asia-Pacific journalists for instance, they are more likely to use official multimedia assets provided by companies than those from Europe and the States. More than half of them would consider including official videos in their content, which is double the number of journalists who would do the same in the States.

People now can consume content in interactive ways, in real-time, through live streaming or in short-form video format. The common thread among these modes of consumption is visualization. Visualization has become one of the most important characteristics of modern communication. 

#5: Produce Content Ideal for Social Sharing

How can we produce content that would be conducive for social sharing? Adopting a mindset of social thinking can help with that. Social thinking calls for people to interpret a deeper meaning behind the actions and words of others, and in turn prompts people to react accordingly. 

Most journalists use social media to obtain information, publish and promote content to boost engagement rates, and establish connections. As such, crafting a short message, especially one that incorporates multimedia and data, would be perfect for journalists to comprehend and grasp things quickly. And of course, spread the word! By using social thinking skills and adjusting to the needs of journalists, you would be able to increase the chances of working with your desired journalists. 

#6: Become a Preferred Source of Information for Journalists

In fact, this tip would be the culmination of practicing all five of our earlier mentioned tips. By providing journalists with data and key research, understanding the target audience and providing valuable information to journalists, they would in turn face fewer challenges. With fewer obstacles in the way, the chances of future collaborations with journalists would be higher. Putting your best foot forward and leaving a good impression can go a long way. 

#7: Avoid Behaviors That Might Leave One on Journalists’ Blacklists

In our survey, there were many questions revolving around journalists’ work habits and communication preferences. For example, at the top of the list of behaviors that might cause one to lose favor with journalists would be “spamming me with irrelevant pitches,” followed by “providing inaccurate or unsourced information”.   

You do not want to end up on journalists’ blacklists, so it would be best to steer clear of these undesirable habits and behaviors.

Summary

As with any relationship, respect and trust are keys to nurturing loyal media relationships. Providing value, in terms of resource, knowledge and expertise can also pose opportunities to build trust and respect. In 2024, “maintaining credibility,” is the top media priority, so media and communication professionals should do their part in adhering to the rules of their industry.  

Although new technologies such as AI have started influencing content consumption behavior, journalists are still in the early stages of incorporating AI in their work. What media and communication professionals can do now is to take these 7 tips as a guide for fostering media relationships that might be budding, or at the maintenance stage and to ultimately, build dynamic ones. 

• Relevance is Key to Attract Attention  
• Provide Valuable Information to Journalists 
• Enhance Credibility with Data
• Play Up Content Visualization
• Become a Preferred Source of Information for Journalists
• Avoid Behaviors that Might Leave One on Journalists’ Blacklists

To learn more insights, download our 2024 State of the Media Report today.