Are PR agencies failing to grasp the scale of change in newsrooms?

Ben Smith and Jack Peat discussed Taylor Herring's report, "News is Dead. Long Live the News," focusing on PR's adaptation to evolving newsroom structures and social media's transformative role in news generation and distribution. The report highlights the need for platform-specific content strategies, emphasizing authentic, visually engaging content tailored to algorithms and social newsroom preferences, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach. Next steps include further exploring the implications of these trends and developing tailored PR strategies for different social media platforms.

Details

• Taylor Herring Report Overview: Ben Smith and Jack Peat discussed Taylor Herring's report, "News is Dead. Long Live the News," which examines how mainstream publishers' editorial teams are structured and whether PR teams are adapting. The central premise is that PR firms are slow to mirror changes in modern newsrooms. They also discussed upcoming PRmoment events, including the PR Masterclass on AI in PR.
• Social Media's Transformative Role in News: Jack Peat highlighted social media's shift from a news distribution platform to a source and generator of news. They emphasized how social media upends every stage of the news cycle, with user-generated content playing a significant role.
• Evolving Relationship Between Publishers and Social Media: Ben Smith and Jack Peat explored the change in how publishers view social media, from using it for traffic to their digital platforms, to becoming a central source of news and audience engagement. They cited examples of publishers prioritizing social media channels with growing teams and significant investments.
• Platform-Specific Content Strategies: The report revealed that different publishers excel on different platforms. This highlights the need for tailored content strategies rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to PR. The success of publications like Lad Bible and Joe on TikTok and the Economist on X exemplify this.
• The Algorithm's Influence on Content Creation: Jack Peat noted that algorithms, rather than editors, are increasingly important, requiring PR to tailor content to specific platform algorithms. Editors, however, remain crucial in understanding their publications' voice and how to optimize content for their target platforms.
• The Shift from One-Size-Fits-All PR: The discussion emphasized the end of the "one-size-fits-all" PR content era, as social news desks seek authentic content tailored to their specific platform and audience. Sending lengthy press releases without visual assets or opportunities for the social news teams to create their own content is no longer effective.
• Types of Video Content Sought by Social Newsrooms: The podcast explored the type of video content preferred by social newsrooms; it’s authentic, live-in-the-moment content, often shot on camera phones. The idea of providing "B-roll" footage that social newsrooms can then tailor to their own platform's style was suggested.
• The Growing Importance of Creators in Newsrooms: The conversation highlighted the shift in newsroom staffing, with a growing emphasis on creators who possess deep platform-specific knowledge rather than traditional journalism training. This trend is driving a change in the relationship between PR and publishers.
• Publishers' Evolving Commercialization Models: The discussion included the evolution of publishers' commercialization models on social media, moving from legacy platforms that rely on ad revenue and referrals, towards platforms like TikTok and Snap that use a "walled-garden" approach, and finally to the trend of publishers owning their audienc