We’ve all seen the LinkedIn posts: journalists venting about poor PRs, tone-deaf pitches or irrelevant follow-ups.

Some of these gripes are fair but others feel like unfair pile-ons. I’m glad to see some PR professionals beginning to push back on this, rather than the usual self-interested fawning you see. We should be prouder of what we contribute to the media than encouraging any further evisceration of our profession.

Yes, newsrooms are under immense pressure, and Business Insider recently gutted its UK editorial team.

Freelance rates have stagnated for decades, and AI is upending the entire publishing ecosystem. I’m sympathetic to this. But, cutting off PRs with access, insight and story leads appears short-sighted.

Contact isn't cool anymore?

What worries me considerably, though, is the proliferation of tools now being deployed to shut contact out entirely. From AI filters that screen inboxes, to journalists refusing to take calls, the message is clear: PRs are increasingly considered persona non grata.

While this appears a professional snub, it’s a strategic misstep for both PRs and journalists alike. And irresponsible PRs — those using AI to send comments minutes after a journo request and the like — are fuelling a cycle of diminishing returns for all.

Against this backdrop, I fear something much darker and more sinister will only fan these flames further, namely a growing bank of evidence that bad actors are using AI to create literal fake news — fake people, fake organisations, fake quotes, fake stories.

AI is causing problems

Take the recent exposé in City AM about a fake journalist Joseph Wales, whose AI-generated pitch about warring chicken shops was not published, thanks to the Spidey senses of Steve Dineen.

The man behind the alias, Wilson Kaharua, is a Nairobi-based SEO writer that has been displaced by AI. His story, and others like it, highlight a growing problem: the rise of AI-generated content that pollutes the media ecosystem and erodes trust.

This is by no means the first. I’m sure we’re all familiar with Margaux Blanchard — an entirely fake journalist writing fake things, resulting in stories being pulled from Wired, Business Insider and more. 

No doubt inadequately resourced editorials alongside sophisticated AI-generated content mean stories are no longer being factchecked or followed up as they once were. Why that is worrying needs no explaining to anyone who values a robust media ecosystem.

In this context, media relations isn’t just relevant — it’s essential. And journalists may find interesting bedfellows in a once natural adversary, PR professionals, because when trust is in short supply, relationships matter.

The best journalism often comes from collaboration: PRs and journalists co-creating in-depth features, sourcing credible voices and navigating complex stories together. But that requires trust, time and actual human interaction.

And yet, it’s harder than ever to get someone on the phone, meet them in person and build genuine connections. Journalists, like the rest of us, are overwhelmed. But if we lose the ability to have real conversations — to grab a coffee, share a lead or sense when a story is worth pursuing — we lose something vital.

Building relationships

The irony is that the future of journalism may look more like its past. As AI floods the web with low-quality content, the value of original reporting, investigative work and trusted editorial judgment will rise. That’s an opportunity — not a threat — for journalists and PRs alike.

As Chris Dicker of the Independent Publishers Alliance recently warned, one-third of indie publishers could shut down within 15 months because of collapsing referral traffic from AI search tools like Google’s AI Overviews.

If we want to preserve a healthy media ecosystem and a PR industry, we need to support the people who feed it — not just the journalists, but the PRs who help them find the stories and content that matter to consumers.

So yes, let’s call out bad PR. But let’s also champion the value of good media relations — the kind built on trust, collaboration and a shared belief in the power of storytelling. Because in an age of fake experts, AI mistrust and struggling newsrooms, real relationships might just be the most valuable asset we have.