Is media relations the most important part of PR?

There are plenty of ways to communicate these days, but there‘s no point saying anything if no one takes any notice. Richard Moss, director of PR agency Good Relations, says the three key words of media relations are “coverage, coverage, coverage”. He explains: “That’s what every client wants and what every PR agency promises to deliver. But is this set to change in our multi-screen, multi-channel, multi-tasking world? Are the skills of video production, game development and community management going to outshine those of traditional media relations?”

PROs have plenty of options for getting messages out there, but they have the problem of clients who are too scared to say anything. Moss says: “Declining levels of consumer engagement and corporate trust have put renewed focus on media management within organisations. This focus has made many organisations too paranoid to speak or their content too vanilla to matter.”

Despite this, Moss says the future of media relations is bright as there are always ways to create material that journalists want to write about and the public want to see: “Today, communicators are increasingly recognising that the production of engaging ‘newsworthy’ content, whether it’s delivered by YouTube, iPad, a brand’s own channel or the Daily Mail, is the only way of getting their message to the people. That transparency in business is the only strategy to build trust. Media relations has a bright future, but its output will be delivered differently. Its future, quite simply, is content, content, content.”

With so many channels to get content to consumers, there is no longer the priority to take journalists out. But Henry Griffiths, partner at PR agency Little Red Rooster, believes that it is through face-to-face meetings with journalists over an extended period – whether just a coffee, a meal, or something more social, like drinks – that you build up a strong relationship with them and that ensure your brands are top-of-mind: “It may not be the sexy part of PR any more, but it is certainly one of the fun bits. And, most importantly, it is something journalists enjoy if done properly. We often hear from journalists how they are seeing less and less of PROs, and they find it a bit depressing, as they would actually like to be taken out more often.”

Social media has become the fashionable way to communicate directly with consumers, rather than getting information to them via the press, but just because something is new, doesn’t mean it is better. Paula Gardner, author of Start and Grow Your Own PR, points out that trends don‘t always last, and eventually, consumers will get sick of reading brand posts on social media: “Everything goes in a cycles and I believe we will reach a point of overwhelm, with the consumer being bombarded by so many different messages, that good, old-fashioned media relations, and being publicly endorsed by the (supposedly impartial press) will come back into fashion.”

Gardner points out, however, that media relations has to be done well, if it is too succeed and warns about the danger of being in “broadcast mode” all the time: “Just sending blanket material out to the press is old hat. It takes longer, and a little more nerve, but picking up the phone and asking the media what type of stories (stats, celebrity lead, case studies?) they are after will go a long way.”

How are media relations changing?
 

Julia Ruane, director at agency ChiCho Marketing: “Media relations is still a very important part of PR, but why? Because media relations let's us convey a message through a trusted conduit to a defined group of people. But that should apply to any PR activity – whether it's a blog, event, TV piece or newspaper article. It's just that the media used to be the only way to communicate to set groups of people and that has now changed thanks to social media and the internet. The important thing is to remember what we're trying to do, not focus too much on the tools to do it, and media relations is just another tool.”

Anne Massey, founder of PR agency The Editorial Consultancy: “When it comes to B2B use of Twitter and LinkedIn, everyone’s shouting, but who is listening? Companies may have hundreds of followers, but how many of them read the messages? Firms believe they have to be ‘seen’ to be active in these fields or risk being regarded as out-of-touch. But I doubt whether this activity will achieve the return on investment delivered by traditional media routes. My prediction is that there will be a swing back to prioritising more useful information sources.”

Written by Daney Parker