How to Navigate Media Relations Through Mass Layoffs
Like anything in the public relations industry, adaption is key. There have been huge layoffs among the many publishers and media giants, most recently occurring with Dotdash Meredith laying off 7% of their employees. If you are the lead for media relations for your client or a business, or you do media outreach on your own for your brand. In that case, you’re probably thinking of what these recent layoffs look like for the relationships you’ve built, the pitches you have out, and the businesses and brands you support.
Losing a journalist contact, especially one you have been working with for a long time, can be heartbreaking for publicists. Yes, our job is built to support our client's goals for earned media coverage, but the other part is to be helpful resources to those who write about those clients and to support them in every way possible with their work. Here are a few tips from us to use if you find yourself feeling a little underwater right now:
Maintain your relationships and show support.
If you have the journalist’s Gmail reach out to them there. If you don’t, maybe reach out on social media and see what you can do to support them. Losing your contact for a lead may be stressful, but remember…they just lost their job, so be supportive, be kind, and give them grace. Many laid-off journalists are looking for freelance opportunities, so if you know of any that are a good fit for their coverage, throw the opportunity their way.
Bottom Line: Our support for journalists doesn’t stop when our contact leaves their publication on their own terms or otherwise.
Reach out to the editor or the person now covering the types of stories you pitched your client for.
If you landed a pitch for a client before you had time for an interview or had an interview already, and you’re waiting for the story to publish, take a beat. If you know who is covering the vertical or section your client was intended to be in, reach out to them and introduce yourself. If not, reach out to an editor and see if they can connect you with the appropriate writer. Tell them you had an interview scheduled with the previous journalist and ask if they would be interested in conducting the interview or receiving your information via email. If you already did the interview, see if they can give you an insight as to whether the story will still be published.
Bottom Line: Focus on what you can and cannot control. Much like everything else in public relations, we need to ask questions, be respectful, and be on top of it.
Pitch it again.
If you reach out to the publication you pitched, and they don’t offer you any insight, then pitching the story elsewhere is fair game– with the exception of explicitly being an exclusive. Who better to reach out to than the original journalist covering it? See if they’d be interested in covering it as a freelancer. If not, do what you do best, get creative, and pitch it elsewhere. You know that it’s a good story. After all, you had it picked up before! If it’s still timely and relevant, get back to the drawing board.
Bottom Line: Non-exclusive stories can be repurposed.
Keep your clients in the loop and educate them.
As any publicist knows, client education is always at the top of the list regarding media relations. Let your client know what’s happening if they don’t. Even if you haven’t lost a contact or experienced anything directly related to the media layoffs, your responsibility is to ensure that your client's understanding and expectations are clear.
Bottom Line: Think about it as your own mini PR crisis, but it’s just the entire media industry on fire. Think five steps ahead, and then think another 15.
There’s not much more to leave you with here other than:
– Publicists and PR pros take a deep breath and put that stellar game face on. This career isn't for the faint of heart; you’ve made it this far. Keep going.
– Journalists, we love you, support you, and are here to help however we can. Your work is important and worth way more than any outlying cost that your employer cut. Further, it will always, always be better than reading the words written by a robot.
One last note: our incredibly selfless client, Olivia Dreizen Howell, Co-Founder and CEO of Fresh Starts Registry, runs YentaList, a website where she shares remote job opportunities daily.
xo,
Gracie
