Corporate Newsrooms Fail to Meet the Needs of Modern Journalists

Public relations teams have work to do when it comes to corporate newsrooms.

Online corporate newsrooms frequently fail to meet the needs of journalists. Even some Fortune 500 firms lack corporate newsroom essentials such as recent content, images, media contacts, and other materials, according to the 2015 Media Trends and Online Newsroom report from Pressfeed. Quality newsrooms are even harder to find among INC 500 firms, although you’d think the fast-growing companies would be eager for media attention.   

“Most corporate newsrooms today exist in a time warp — failing to keep pace with technology and the needs of time-strapped journalists,” said Wendy Marx, president of B2B PR and marketing agency Marx Communications, in a Pressfeed webinar. “In fact, the term newsroom misrepresents what most of them do. Relics of a quaint past when time wasn’t an issue, they lack the excitement and urgency of news.”

The lackluster state of corporate newsrooms is especially troubling considering news organizations are suffering from shrinking staffs and dwindling resources. They increasingly turn to corporate newsrooms for background information, research and other materials. That presents a significant media opportunity for corporate PR teams.

“We need to be thinking of newsrooms in terms of news hubs that act as a repository of sources, information, and industry trends,” Marx said. “With journalists often under the gun and pressed for time, let’s make their jobs easier, which in turn makes the chances of us getting ink that much greater.”

These are corporate newsroom best practices, according to Pressfeed.

PR contacts. Media contact information is clearly visible on the main newsroom page as well as every press release.

Story ideas. Story ideas can lead to media coverage and blog posts. Keep editorial ideas fresh and updated.

Industry news and trends. Busy journalist may not have the time to stay on top of a broad spectrum of industry news and trends. If you’re in an industry hit by media cutbacks, curate the best industry news in your newsroom.

Expert databases. Veteran reporters typically have accumulated a list of experts and sources, but many less experienced journalists often now cover multiple beats and need to quickly locate experts for their stories. Include a list of company experts, their full bios, headshot photos and a video of them talking about their area of expertise.

Search engine optimization. Internet search is the first and most common way to find business information and breaking news. Optimizing news content for search engines began almost 10 years ago, but the PR community has been slow to adopt the strategy. Optimize all content, text as well as images and video, for search engines. Optimize for the company name, brand name, and relevant keywords.

Images and video. Media outlets seek high-quality, original images to attract viewers. A newsroom image gallery should include both high- and low-resolution images, infographics and charts, with images sorted into categories. A video gallery can include “explainer” animated videos with embedded codes.

Measurement. One of the benefits of working online is that it is now possible to measure almost anything. “Now, more than ever, learning to measure results and interpret the metrics to extract insights that inform strategy and business goals is a must for PR pros,” the report states.

Through analytics and measurement, PR can determine where their newsroom visitors come from, what content they prefer and what paths they take while in the newsroom.

One major misconception about PR is that it does not drive revenue or sales. “Some people think of PR as solely a brand awareness builder, but time and time again when the press writes a story about a company, sales tend to go up. PR, marketing executives, and comms teams can track important metrics and tie them to specific business objectives,” said Virgin America Marketing VP Porter Gale in the report.

Bottom Line: Although corporations have an opportunity to obtain increased media coverage because of staff reductions at traditional media outlets, many corporate newsrooms fail to meet the needs of 21st century journalists. PR teams can obtain media coverage and promote their brand’s storyline by following corporate newsroom best practices, including providing fresh content, images, videos, employing analytics and measuring their results. Media monitoring tools can track and measure PR efforts and link them to business goals.