Media Relations Lessons From Muck Rack in 2021

Every year Muck Rack releases its “State of Journalism,” which is a survey of 2,400 journalists on their work lives, their relationship with our business, and how they prefer to be approached. It is an invaluable resource for any media relations professional and you should download it here to get the full impact. In this post, I’m going to share six takeaways that I got from the data, some new and some reinforcements of practices that are well-established.

PR people are not preferred sources

Many times in my career when it has come to responding to the media, my clients have been surprised that it is not automatic that I would be their spokesperson. I have done it, but I try to avoid it. The Muck Rack survey shows why….PR people, especially agency PR people, are not viewed by journalists as preferred sources. From a company perspective, they would prefer to hear from the CEO. Thing is, that’s also better from a PR perspective. The less you look like you are “lawyered up” the better reaction readers and viewers will have to your story.

Academics are Preferred Sources

First, I always think this is an underutilized opportunity for our local colleges. A good example of a local professor who got his college national and international exposure was the recently deceased David Baker from Heidelberg University.

Having said that, there are big caveats for the use of academics in support of corporate or non-profit storytelling. There are two reasons journalists like academics: one is that they have expertise and the second is that they are independent. If we compromise their independence in our rush to win today’s news cycle, we can weaken the entire foundation. Academic experts need to be able to talk about issues in a way that is consistent with their overall scholarly track record. In those situations, they can be invaluable.

Journalists Love Twitter

Muck Rack shows that journalists love Twitter and the love is actually growing. Adjust your social media accordingly. You may need a Twitter presence for your company for media relations purposes if nothing else.

In: Infographics

You see this across the communication field today. Infographics are hot. The Muck Rack survey indicates that 3 in 5 journalists track the shareability of their stories and that images—like infographics—are viewed as key to shareability. From a communicator’s perspective, I think there is consensus that an infographic helps to explain complicated topics in a fun and easy way.

I’d recommend that PR pros ensure they have access to a designer who can do these and do them well. The best ones have an accessible, almost cartoon-like feel to them. (Muck Rack has a good example-in-practice right here). They should probably be included as appropriate with pitches today."

The “don’t take no for an answer” Sales Approach Will be the End of You

You no doubt picked this up along the way—something about making a sale after the 10th call. This might be good advice for sales—though I doubt it—but it is awful advice for media relations. See, journalists have spam boxes and filters just like everyone else does, and when they are peppered with “follow ups” on the same pitch you will do more than lose that one pitch, you will lose access to that journalist entirely.

The research is clear: one follow-up 3-7 days later. After that, journalists say you should assume they are not interested. And you should.

This is a Retail Business, not Wholesale

We have all been told to “send out a press release.” Which is, I exaggerate not, one of the five easiest things in the world to do. Effective and strategic media relations programs require granularity. It is going to take all the fun out of it. You need to research each prospect and target them individually on their timetable based on their interests. Think fishing with a hook as opposed to with a net.

Just an example from Muck Rack: reporters (no surprise) like exclusives. Of course, giving exclusives is by definition paired with a granular approach.

Ultimately, effective media relations is not a sugar high. ILike Resilient5, t requires a large and meticulous investment of time and money with a long-term payoff, all things people are typically allergic to.