THE JOURNALISM INDUSTRY IS STRUGGLING: HOW PUBLIC RELATIONS MUST PIVOT

You probably saw on the news that News Corp is making the move for numerous publications to a primarily digital platform, along with the announcement hundreds of journalists will lose their jobs. Just the week prior the closure of Ten Daily was announced, again resulting in the letting go of dozens of journalists. The industry is struggling, and not just from COVID-19 but also from reduced advertising take-ups in editorials according to Channel 10, the closure of traditional newspaper outlets, and free information consumption. There’s even talk that some journalists will be replaced by robots.

Journalism plays a pivotal role within society, and watching the impacts unfold is devastating.

What can we expect to see?

Many have said the journalism industry has been dying for years, but the topic is controversial. Some say it is just adapting to the changing media landscape; others point out citizen journalism has skyrocketed in the last decade. But what about professional journalists employed by publications?

The loss of jobs in journalism was happening prior to the pandemic, but in the wake of COVID-19 it is only going to have further financial repercussions. As for many other industries, it is likely redundancies and job loss will continue, as well as the closure of newsrooms and traditional newspapers. This won’t mean a reduction in content readily available - after all, anyone can post anything online. The internet is never short of opinions. But what this might mean is a reduction to the quality of content available.

Job losses will mean employed journalists may be overstretched, running with more stories than usual, particularly in regional areas where many publications will only be available in a digital format and as such redundancies will be higher.

Impacts on the Public Relations industry

The role of PR within communications means we are regularly in contact with journalists, pitching clients and seeking earned media coverage. This is of course going to affect our industry, but not all in the ways you might think.

With many journalists being let go and moving into other careers, and some publications ceasing work altogether, this will obviously limit who you can contact, increasing difficulty in pitching. This will also make it harder to get your pitch seen with employed journalists overseeing more stories and fewer resources available. Again, for local news outlets this will particularly apply. The pivot of publications to chiefly digital platforms will also reduce the number of physical papers in publication, potentially impacting on audience reach.

Interestingly, we have also heard multiple times of journalists making a career-change into Public Relations, an obvious move with already-made media contacts and an understanding of what a journalist looks for in a story. For this reason, I expect we may also see many transferring into this industry.

Adapting to the changing media landscape

Like everyone, the PR industry will need to adapt and evolve. Whether you’re helping a client, or you’re a business seeking earned media coverage, here are some things to consider.

• Have the story ready

Journalists are already overworked, and they will likely have even more stories on their plate at any one time. Make their job as easy as possible through not only providing the main source, for example yourself or a client, but with at least two others readily available who are happy to provide comments or be recorded. This will save them time needing to find other sources with limited resources.

• Pitch to freelancers

Many journalists that leave large publications may decide to go solo and work as a freelancer. Many of them are incredibly talented, providing work for renowned and highly-credible publications. Don’t think you can only pitch directly to a publication, contact freelancers as well. Again, they will be working incredibly hard, so will likely be appreciative of tips and interesting stories.

• Subscriptions

This is a bit of a different angle, but remains important: if you are able to, subscribe to and pay for the news subscriptions of value to you. The already-struggling industry is going to face further difficulty stemming from the Coronavirus pandemic, and paying subscription fees can offer a little relief. Help keep these outlets alive.