Media Relations
The day-to-day work of being useful to journalists: relationships built before you need them, pitches that respect a deadline, and being reachable when something breaks.
Overview
Media relations is a relationship business with a short memory for people who only appear when they want something. Journalists remember who gave them a usable quote at four in the afternoon and who sent an untargeted press release about a personnel change.
The practical work is being consistently useful: knowing what each contact covers, offering things that fit their beat, responding fast during a story, and being honest when you cannot comment. That reputation is what produces coverage when you actually need it.
Who this is for
- Companies with no existing relationships in their trade press
- Businesses whose press releases go out to a bought list
- Teams who missed an opportunity to comment because nobody was reachable
How we approach media relations
The specific pieces of work a typical engagement covers. Scope is agreed up front — nothing here is a surprise line item later.
Contact mapping
Who covers your area, at which outlets, and what they have written recently. Specific rather than a purchased list.
Pitching
Targeted approaches built around what that journalist covers, sent at times that suit their production cycle.
Press materials
Releases, backgrounders and fact sheets written to be usable, with the information a journalist needs and none of the adjectives.
Reactive commentary
Being available and quotable when a relevant story breaks, which is the fastest route into coverage.
Media training
Preparing spokespeople for interviews, including how to answer the question that was asked rather than the one they prepared.
Press office
Handling incoming enquiries with an agreed response time, including out of hours arrangements when warranted.
From first call to measured result
The same sequence every time, so you always know what happens next.
Build the map
Identify the journalists who matter and what each of them actually covers.
Prepare
Materials, spokespeople and approved positions on the difficult questions, ready before they are needed.
Engage
Targeted pitching plus reactive commentary, building relationships through being useful rather than through asking.
Sustain
Regular contact whether or not you have an announcement, which is what makes the relationship real.
Outcomes, not deliverables
A pile of artefacts isn't progress. These are the changes the work is meant to produce — and what we report against.
Journalists who take the call
Relationships built through usefulness are what turn an approach into coverage.
Coverage from reacting fast
Being available and quotable within the hour is often easier than originating a story.
Spokespeople who do not become the story
Training prevents the interview that generates a week of unwanted follow-up.
Enquiries handled properly
A press office with agreed response times means a journalist's deadline is met rather than missed.
Common questions about Media Relations
The things people ask before they get in touch. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Do press releases still work?
As a document of record, yes. As a route to coverage, rarely on their own. A targeted approach to a journalist who covers your area, with the release attached for detail, works far better than distribution to a list.
What makes a story worth pitching?
It has to be interesting to that publication's readers rather than to you. New data, a genuine change in a market, a contrarian and defensible position, or a customer story with real numbers. Your funding round and your new hire usually are not, unless they signal something larger.
How quickly do we need to respond to a journalist?
Within the hour where possible, and always with a realistic time if you cannot answer immediately. Deadlines are short and a slow response simply means they quote someone else.
Should we pay for coverage?
Paid placement is advertising and must be labelled as such. It has its uses, and it is not media relations. Anyone offering guaranteed editorial coverage for a fee is selling something that damages your credibility if it is discovered.
Thinking about Media Relations?
Tell us what you are trying to change. If we are not the right fit we will say so, and point you somewhere better.
Looking at the wider picture?
Media Relations usually sits alongside other work in Public Relations & Communications. Browse the full area to see what it connects to.