Photo credit: Antony Mayfield
Brands that provide reporters a streamlined digital newsroom experience gain a distinct media relations advantage.
Corporate public relations can do a much better job creating corporate newsrooms that deliver what journalists want, a new survey reveals. Only 6% of journalists surveyed say digital newsrooms meet their expectations, according to a new survey by digital communications platform ISEBOX. What is often missing that journalists want include easy downloads of videos and photos, easier to navigate interfaces, better search tools, links to corporate social media sites, and better contact information.
“I’ve seen journalism change dramatically in recent years. It’s a much tougher job now, and content marketers need to make a reporter’s job easier if they’re going to expect consistent, accurate coverage,” said Matt Purdue, director of content strategy at PepperComm and a former journalist.
Most Important Factors for Digital Newsrooms
Journalists ranked these features as most important: accurate contact information (90%), access to photos and video content (76%), current news and information (71%), easy search tools to find content (55%). Poor contact information (69%) and lack of multimedia content (65%) are the biggest shortcomings of the digital newsrooms. Poor search tools (54%) and lack of current information (53%) were also significant factors.
The poll also reports that:
- Over 65% of journalists said most online PR resources are insufficient.
- 80% of journalists said they would more actively seek out a company’s newsroom if it met their needs.
- 95% of reporters access company websites at least monthly; 41% visit newsrooms daily.
- 69% of journalists never subscribe to company emails, yet 50% stated that it was important to be able to subscribe.
Other irritants that can prevent media coverage include lack of media kits, difficulty setting up interviews, weak search features, non-existent press archives and poorly written press releases.
“The research gets to the heart of the frustrations faced by journalists on deadline. Not having an easy to find phone number is unforgivable in the 21st Century,” commented Greg Walton, a reporter for Agence France-Presse.
Examples to Follow
Many corporate newsrooms have not evolved beyond a list of news releases, says PR and marketing expert Arik Hanson in a Business 2 Community article. However, a handful of companies treat their newsrooms as a content hub where they can share stories via social media, e-newsletters and other forms of media. “They’re thinking about it as a key storytelling device. And, they’re thinking about it as a multi-media hub,” Hanson writes.
Walmart’s newsroom uses large visuals and limited text. It feels more like a Pinterest or Instagram page than a corporate web page. While it does feature news releases, they link to consumer-centric blog posts on similar topics. Best Buy uses blog posts rather than news releases, but they are clearly more PR driven. It lists a media contact and downloadable assets at the bottom of posts. That tactic delivers the best of both worlds: a story than can be shared across different channels and pitched to the media.
Bottom Line: Many corporations’ digital newsrooms do not offer the features that journalists desire, such as downloadable videos and images. Some even lack contact information that’s easily located. Corporate PR gains a media relations advantage by offering information and other assets that reporters seek.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
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