How is Your Media List Holding Up?

How is Your Media List Holding Up?

By, Megan O’Hara, Account Executive, Fusion PR

One way in which we, as PR professionals, are feeling the effects of the suffering economy is in the pitching atmosphere. I recently sent a pitch to a selective group of reporters and found a large number of them are no longer at their respective publications. With an increasing number of news outlets closing or laying-off those “been there forever” reporters, we will only continue to see our media lists shrink.

Here are a couple of the latest headlines:

• The Complete Bloomberg Layoffs List
• Rocky Mountain News closing after Friday edition
• The Great Newspaper Massacre of 2008
• San Francisco Chronicle Threatens to Close

 

We now need to devote even more time and effort into reestablishing connections and following-up with reporters. Several of the reporters to whom I was referring above have changed beats entirely. While their area of coverage may no longer be applicable to your client, it could be the perfect fit for a colleague, presenting you with the opportunity of making the introduction.

 

It will be interesting to see how things progress over the coming months, but staying in touch with your contacts and being aware of struggling publications will ensure you are as prepared as possible, and ultimately, more valuable to your client.