Category Archives: media relations

Widow’s Bay: Communications Lessons from this Year’s Emmy Darling

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This week’s 78th Primetime Emmy’s saw a dark horse sweep the comedy categories. The Apple TV hit “Widow’s Bay” won a historic 14 awards, breaking the record for most awards won in a single night by a freshman comedy.

For those who haven’t yet tuned in, the series centers around a fictional New England island community afflicted by a strange curse that manifests in different supernatural occurrences terrorizing residents. We follow Mayor Tom Loftis—played by Matthew Rhys, who nabbed two lead acting awards at the Emmy’s this year—as he tries to turn the town into a tourist hot-spot and bring the island into the 21st century.

The show’s inciting incident is a familiar set up for PR professionals. Miraculously, Rhys’ character secures a visit from a New York Times travel reporter to profile the town. However, we quickly see the idyllic charm presented to the writer is only a veneer for something much more sinister. The mayor’s endeavors, while often misguided, offer a look at the power of earned media and how leading with false promises can end badly. 

The Value in Third Party Validation  

Widow’s Bay invites viewers to witness how off-putting the mayor’s aggressive self-promotion appears. It isn’t until The New York Times, a well-known and trusted publication verifies the town’s potential as a charming, coastal getaway that the tourism floodgates fully open. 

Fans of the show watch as the reporter enjoys a picturesque Cape Cod-like experience on the island, while any threat to image the mayor is promoting is snuffed out or concealed. Consequently, an idyllic experience is what the reporter conveys to readers, resulting in a flock of visitors to the island. The show accurately represents the hoped-for or intended outcome of earned media—building trust and credibility to ultimately affect peoples’ perceptions and behavior. We take issue with the deception or concealed realities—always something to be avoided in public relations—but the impact, especially in a world where consumers rely on AI search results fueled by earned media along with online reviews, aligns with the core function of good public relations.

Unfortunately, once the tourists arrived, the island’s penchant for the macabre begins to seep through. Earned media lends brands a sense of credibility, but it’s up to the organization and its leadership to deliver the proof. 

Reputational Risk

From the beginning, Rhys’s portrayal of the mayor is of someone frequently trying to cover up the town’s sordid past from being exposed, first to the reporter and later the tourists themselves. In his attempt to boast Widow’s Bay as a dream destination, the mayor turns a blind eye to the reputational risk the island faces by welcoming tourists when a dangerous supernatural awakening is afoot. Eventually, this deferred reality puts residents’ and tourists’ safety at risk. 

While most organizations are unlikely to withhold a supernatural curse from the public, transparency should still be part of any communications strategy. 

Skeletons in the closet? Share them with your public relations team. This means being open with your communications partner about any potential risks. The PR team can only help to address issues of concern if they are shared, with recommendations to resolve them and maintain control over the narrative. When management views are shaded through rose-colored glasses, a good PR team can come in with a strategic view looking at how the company and its news could be viewed from a variety of perspectives. But the organization has to be willing to acknowledge where perception and reality fail to meet and act to resolve those gaps.

Crisis Communications 

Without diving too deeply into spoiler territory, the final episode of the season sees Mayor Tom Loftis reckoning with the warning signs he tried to ignore. In his attempt to modernize the community and revive their struggling economy, he let the town’s warnings mushroom into a full-blown threat, risking the safety of everyone on the island. As a result, other members of his office are left to navigate a crisis with minimal framework and little guidance from their leader, further souring tourists’ impression of the town. 

The best time to start planning your crisis communications is well before a crisis happens. The Widow’s Bay mayor failed to acknowledge a crisis, despite all the warning signs. Business leaders can’t afford to make that mistake. Working with communications partners to see where and how they can get ahead of issues before they escalate into full-blown reputational threats is often challenging, but ultimately goes a long way to protect all those involved. A good PR team will help you prepare thoughtful messaging that leads with empathy and focuses on the facts. 

It remains to be seen how Tom Loftis’ bungled PR strategy will impact the fictional town’s fate in the next season. In the meantime, we can learn from his missteps and point to the value of a comprehensive communications strategy that respects the value of third-party validation, considers reputational risk from every angle and prepares for the worst.  

What does Widow’s Bay teach us about PR? Good PR can put your business on the map, but make sure you understand just what could rise up from below before you summon its power.

How I Got Here: Paul Eagle’s Journey to PR

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Many career paths are unplanned. As specialists in insurance communications, we hear from insurance professionals all the time who found their way to their professions through unplanned or unexpected means. The same can be true of public relations. Whether it’s journalism, marketing or human resources—the PR field is uniquely suited to diverse backgrounds. That is why we are sharing this blog series breaking down how our team members came to find their current PR roles. For any new grads trying to figure out what they want to do, or even established professionals looking to make a change, we hope this series can shed some light on the PR field. 

What did you go to school for?

I started out as a psychology major. During my studies I discovered college radio, where I became a broadcaster and got totally hooked on communications. I later did an internship at a newspaper and changed my major to communications with an emphasis on public relations.  

What did you envision your job would be? 

There’s a great meme on social media about what my mom thinks I do versus what I actually do. It shows Mom thinks I’m behind a bank off microphones and cameras all day, but what I really do is sit behind a computer typing all day. It took me a while to realize that to be successful it takes long hours behind a computer doing research, cultivating relationships and writing really well to make one a good public relations practitioner.

What was your first job out of college? 

The Peace Corps. I served in Liberia West Africa, where I lived in a village with no power or water and ate lots of rice and jumping meat. One of my jobs was working at ELRV-Radio where I produced a weekly show about building fishponds in swamp rice farms for protein sources in rural villages.

How did you end up in your current role?

I spent 15 years in agency life, which I loved. It’s nimble and interesting and there is so much action. Then I spent 12 years as a vice president of one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world. That was a very moving and intense role—especially with all the traveling. Today, I combine the two worlds in my role as a consultant and it’s my favorite job of all. 

What has surprised you most about your career or yourself given your current role?

Even though I feel prepared and knowledgeable for this role, I still learn every day. Public relations is never boring and there is always something new to pick up.

What have you learned from your career journey?

Empathy. Listening. Flexibility. These are all keys to success in public relations. And, of course, the improv theory of yes, and… . Spend your time adding value and making your colleagues’ ideas, products and services better, rather than tearing them down. 

What lesson or myth-busting idea would you want to share with someone thinking about a career in public relations?

In the early years we fought for credibility among leadership. Now we are side-by-side with leadership working through problems and solutions. The C-Suite understands the value of strong communications and often relies on their public relations team in good times and bad.

3 Ways to Earn Credibility with the Media and Grow Your Reputation

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The secret to earning your way into news coverage, earned media as it’s called in public relations, is to give journalists what they need without talking about your company, product or service. You are not the story. 

Every organization looking to grow understands, or should understand, the importance of positive media exposure. As AI search overtakes traditional online search, earned media defines how your organization shows up in AI search results. Third-party validation has never meant more in the world of brand reputation. However, getting there without being promotional is where countless organizations struggle.

Insights Matter

Whether your company is in insurance, technology, financial services or manufactures children’s toys, as an established industry player you are sometimes closer to related emerging issues or trends than the media. You have the ability to explain and contextualize these developments for audiences eager to understand them better.

Your company or your title give you entry to the conversation with journalists, but they cannot be the conversation. What journalists want is your thinking on customer behavior, economic shifts, emerging risks, operational trends or simply reactions to industry news. They may ask what these changes mean for your company, but that is secondary. If you can paint a picture of the industry without mentioning your company, products or services, you will be seen as offering useful intelligence for the journalist and helpful guidance for the audiences. Promotional efforts kill these opportunities.

Own Your Space

Don’t attempt to be a Jack of all trades in terms of topics to tackle with the media. By selecting a few key topics or areas of interest within your industry, you can more likely establish clear positions, opinions and deeper insights than your competition. Credibility means having a strong and unique point of view and the means to support that viewpoint. And that is the stuff of great storytelling that journalists love. 

One way to do this is to demonstrate useful insights when you have nothing to promote. Speak to journalists on background. Help them understand complex issues. Offer to educate them if asked or point them to others who can speak on the record if you cannot. This demonstrates you’re more than an expert; you’re a resource.

Show Up

Journalists will talk to the professionals who show up, have a clear point of view and are willing to be candid and human. But the most important of these traits is showing up. 

Some executives see media interviews as not being central to the organization’s mission. In times gone by, you could make that argument. It no longer applies. AI is scraping media to determine not only how, but who, shows up when customers or clients search for goods, products and services. Media is the first stop in building those search results. Failing to prioritize public relations ensures you will be left behind. That’s not a threat or a prediction; it’s where we are headed. 

Consequently, journalists will work with those who show up with something important to say that also speaks to their audiences. Those who prove unreliable are simply removed from the equation by journalists who need to move quickly to produce good content.

Credibility with the media is earned, not given. That credibility will increasingly prove to be one of a few gold standards that will shape the reputations of organizations and their leadership as AI takes center stage in all our lives. 

How I Got Here: Eileen Coyne’s Journey to PR

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Many career paths are unplanned. As specialists in insurance communications, we hear from insurance professionals all the time who found their way to their professions through unplanned or unexpected means. The same can be true of public relations. Whether it’s journalism, marketing or human resources—the PR field is uniquely suited to diverse backgrounds. That is why we are sharing this blog series breaking down how our team members came to find their current PR roles. For any new grads trying to figure out what they want to do, or even established professionals looking to make a change, we hope this series can shed some light on the PR field. 

What did you go to school for?

I studied communications in college and pursued a journalism concentration. It was my senior year of high school when I decided I wanted to become a journalist. I had the opportunity to take part in a senior work week at a Philadelphia television news station and was immediately sold on the fast pace and excitement of television news. 

What did you envision your job would be?

Envisioning a future as a television news field reporter at first, I took a summer internship at a Baltimore television news station. It was a memorable experience where I had the opportunity to accompany reporters to the scenes of breaking news, record my own tapes and write up brief segments for the producers. Realizing I enjoyed the writing more than the behind-the-camera work, I took a second internship at a major metro paper. After first seeing my byline in print, I focused my aspirations there. 

What was your first job out of college?

After college, I landed a job as a reporter in Washington, DC for the Bureau of National Affairs. I covered the banking beat and had the opportunity to report on regulatory issues and federal hearings on Capitol Hill where I was able to learn more about the policy process firsthand. It was an amazing experience that allowed me to immerse myself in our nation’s capital and continue to improve my reporting and writing skills as a young journalist. 

How did you end up in your current role?

After working as a business reporter for different publications, I shifted into public relations. As a reporter, you can develop a love-hate relationship with PR folks. Not a fan of the pushy, salesy PR pros, I came to appreciate the good PR pros—those who shared thoughtful ideas to help me shape a future story, who connected me with valuable sources, who anticipated my needs and who respected my time and my deadlines. After covering banking and insurance for years as a reporter, I worked as a PR pro at a national carrier and then moved to serving the insurance industry from the agency side. After taking some time to raise my kids, I came across a position at Kimball Hughes PR specializing in insurance. It was a perfect fit. It’s been 10 years and I haven’t looked back.

What has surprised you most about your career or yourself given your current role?

Becoming a solid reporter, editor and writer was always something I aspired to, but I never saw myself in PR or as a specialist in insurance and risk management. That insurance focus has been a fun surprise and one of the most rewarding parts of my career. 

What have you learned from your career journey?

Careers take twists and turns. The best laid plans will shift with good bosses, bad bosses, promotions and layoffs—as well as with kids, family moves and other life and work events. Be ready to roll with it. The younger me never would have guessed I’d be a PR pro let alone one who specializes in insurance, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

What lesson or myth-busting idea would you want to share with someone thinking about a career in public relations?

Journalists often joke that former reporters who switch to PR have crossed to the “dark side.” I’m not on the dark side. I continue to do what I first sought out to do—storytelling. The format is just different. I help my clients tell their stories, connecting their expertise to timely trends and issues that matter to journalists and their readers. I continue to love the business of the news and I thrive here, but from a different perspective—finding ways to showcase my clients’ expertise, boosting their visibility and credibility among their target audiences.

Claude Mark: Why AI writers can no longer hide

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For those who felt AI had given them license to embrace their inner-but-challenged wordsmith persona, August 10, 2026 will forever be a black mark on their calendars. 

That’s the day Anthropic, the company that created AI tool Claude, announced it will now embed what it called an “imperceptible watermark” directly into all AI-generated text. In practical terms, if a user employs Claude to write, edit or refine any text, that AI watermark will follow said text forever. You can download or copy and paste the text; either way, that text carries an AI Scarlet Letter for all to see. 

TechCrunch reported Anthropic’s move was designed to comply with the European Union’s AI Act, and more specifically, it’s Transparency Code. The Act took effect on Aug. 2. Other companies offering AI platforms, according to TechCrunch, have also committed to complying with the EU’s AI Act. Generally, this likely means all AI text will eventually bear watermarks.

AI users should proceed with caution. Even if one were to write an op/ed or other contributed article and merely run it through AI for a grammar check or simple edit to tighten language, that original content—once inserted into a Claude AI platform, and likely others in the future—will be watermarked as AI generated.

For business and nonprofit executives who regularly submit thought leadership content to third-party publishers, this development may cause any content touched by AI even slightly to run afoul of an outlet’s writers’ guidelines. The result could lead to rejection of the article or an outright ban of the author to make future contributions to the outlet. It all depends on the outlet’s AI particular policies. 

For the AI-built Colleen Hoover wannabes out there, this latest AI development appears to be a potential roadblock to the write-without-much-effort movement AI seems to have fostered. However, for those seeking genuine creativity and deep, experiential expertise across a range of content types, this development is a good thing. It forces writers and those who aspire to write to embrace an essential truth: write what you know; not what Claude or others know. This is a net positive for the writers as well as the readers. It also helps to better safeguard authenticity. 

For executives looking to share their thinking within their industries or broader communities, understanding the burgeoning restrictions on AI content and how third-party publishers are handling AI-generated or edited content is paramount. Expert commentary and content have long been a central element of any reputation management program. AI offered the potential to put this at risk. Handled correctly, with care and understanding of the perspectives of publishers, companies and non-profits will be better prepared to recognize and abide by guardrails put in place to ensure genuine and original thinking still hold sway in the writing process. And, of course, a good public relations team can further ensure those reputations are better protected, the content is original and no executive is harmed by the use of artificial intelligence.

What Does Artificial Intelligence Say About Your Company’s Reputation? 

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When Google released their Analytics platform in the early 2000s, the traditional playbook businesses had used to market themselves, demonstrate credibility and measure those efforts had to be completely reworked. 

And here we go again. 

In the years that have passed since the launch of Google Analytics, tech experts have been working diligently to take us to the next level – to harness, organize and act upon volumes of data. 

Enter artificial intelligence (AI). 

What was once a game of improving a business’ search engine optimization (SEO) ranking through keywords, backlinks and other factors, has now evolved into a new challenge of demonstrating credibility to the Large Language Models (LLM) that are fast becoming the first stop for many in how information is discovered and understood. 

The rise of AI search 

According to a survey by McKinsey & Company, 50% of consumers were using AI-powered search as of October 2025. As AI tools become more sophisticated, that percentage is likely to rise, making it critical that brands begin addressing their AI search credibility. With this increase in popularity, business leaders will find that consumers assess their business’ authority and trustworthiness based on AI’s interpretation of the organization’s online presence. 

Platforms like ChatGPT or Google Gemini pull from a wealth of data points that analyze brands based on factors such as how often a brand is mentioned in the media, expertise on a subject and more. In short, AI platforms depend on third-party credibility to rank trustworthiness. 

Measuring trust 

The data points and rules in place for AI platforms to analyze information are constantly changing based on a multitude of factors. However, because the internet is flooded with generic and increasingly less credible AI-generated content, AI platforms tend to prioritize third-party validation. Thought leadership content, interviews and mentions on reputable media sites including national, regional, business and industry trade press are considered highly credible by AI platforms and feed search summaries. 

LinkedIn is another area AI is increasingly prioritizing for search queries. However, AI search algorithms rely more on how other users reference and interact with a brand across LinkedIn including posts, newsletters, articles, videos and more rather than the LinkedIn posts a business publishes on their own page. 

AI is a moving target

As business leaders look to better understand AI-powered search and improve their brand’s credibility in search queries, they should keep in mind that the technology is ever changing. 

Beyond the platform updates and expanded capabilities, regulatory scrutiny is shaping the future of AI search and will likely continue to do so for years to come. But that should not discourage businesses from investing in their online presence. In fact, it makes a strong case for continued or even additional investment in earned media coverage, thought leadership, owned content and more. Beyond AI-powered search, these communication channels offer businesses more control of their company narrative and their reputation. 

While business leaders cannot manipulate how AI platforms respond, they can have a hand in some of the authoritative information online about their company that is feeding AI’s algorithms. As AI search evolves, the companies investing in building credibility through earned media, thought leadership and thoughtful owned content are building a digital reputation best positioned for success now and into the future. 

How I Got Here: Cassidy Taylor’s Journey to PR

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Many career paths are unplanned. As specialists in insurance communications, we hear from insurance professionals all the time who found their way to their professions through unplanned or unexpected means. The same can be true of public relations. Whether it’s journalism, marketing or human resources—the PR field is uniquely suited to diverse backgrounds. That is why we are sharing this blog series breaking down how our team members came to find their current PR roles. For any new grads trying to figure out what they want to do, or even established professionals looking to make a change, we hope this series can shed some light on the PR field. 

What did you go to school for?

I graduated from a small Liberal Arts College in Easton, Pa., the former home of Kimball Hughes Public Relations, with a double Bachelor of Arts degree in English, and Film and Media Studies. 

I always knew I wanted to go into a career that involved reading or writing but saw the creative fields evolving in a way that would alter the professional landscape. I knew I had to have a good grasp on modern media to remain competitive and relevant, which led to the addition of my Film and Media Studies degree. Additionally, I played Division One soccer while I was in undergraduate school, so you could also say I went to school for the love of the game.

After graduating, I went back to school to receive my Master of Arts in Communications with a certificate in Public Relations and Advertising. 

What did you envision your job would be?

My initial goal was to work in journalism. The fast paced, investigative environment called to me. After an internship with a small, boutique public relations (PR) agency in college, I fell in love with PR. The idea that I could continue to work in a fast-paced environment, tapping into my creative skills while helping organizations achieve their goals was what inspired me to shift fields.

What was your first job out of college?

Immediately after graduating from college, I worked for a global trade association in the fresh produce industry. This in-house role taught me how to support multiple stakeholders at once. I also fell in love with crisis communications in this role. One of my first projects involved a crisis related to a major food-borne illness outbreak. The intensity of both the pace and content brought a high-pressure thrill to the work that I enjoyed – a thrill similar to what I enjoyed during my years as an athlete. 

How did you end up in your current role?

I initially joined Kimball Hughes Public Relations as an intern my junior year of college. During my time as an intern, I worked closely with both the organization’s principle, Rod Hughes and vice president, Eileen Coyne. Rod and I stayed in close communication after my internship ended, and he became an invaluable mentor to me throughout my early years as a public relations professional. As we stayed in touch, I often looked for opportunities to work with Rod again, and the stars aligned in 2021 when I was looking for my next opportunity and Kimball Hughes Public Relations was seeking a public relations manager. 

What has surprised you most about your career or yourself given your current role?

What has surprised me the most about a career in public relations is the amount of trust required. Public relations professionals, clients, journalists, vendors and others all need to work together with a high-level of trust to ensure brand integrity and accuracy are maintained and high-quality, interesting and helpful content makes it to the appropriate audiences. 

What have you learned from your career journey?

Confidence is key. You can be a proficient writer with all the best media contacts, but if the client, journalist or your colleagues do not have confidence in you or your work, success will only be surface level. I have found this confidence, and trust with all stakeholders, comes from connection. The more clients feel you know them, their business and can explain how you will help them achieve their goals, the more confidence they will have in you. 

What lesson or myth-busting idea would you want to share with someone thinking about a career in public relations?

Public relations is not limited to social media content, attending influencer events and putting together PR boxes for celebrities. There is a lot of PR work in the B2C space that looks like what you see in the movies, but many B2B organizations in highly technical fields, such as insurance, legal or finance, also need PR support that looks very different. Anyone pursuing a career in public relations should seriously consider the industries that interest them. This will help you understand where you best fit within a very diverse communications industry. 

How I Got Here: Mike Madry’s Journey to PR

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Many career paths are unplanned. As specialists in insurance communications, we hear from insurance professionals all the time who found their way to their professions through unplanned or unexpected means. The same can be true of public relations. Whether it’s journalism, marketing or human resources—the PR field is uniquely suited to diverse backgrounds. That is why we are sharing this blog series breaking down how our team members came to find their current PR roles. For any new grads trying to figure out what they want to do, or even established professionals looking to make a change, we hope this series can shed some light on the PR field. 

What did you go to school for?

I went to school initially for journalism. During my junior year, I changed my major to public relations after deciding there might be more opportunities there compared to a career in broadcast journalism. 

What did you envision your job would be? 

During my freshman year of high school, I had the opportunity to anchor the school news. After a few broadcasts, I realized I wanted to be a news or sports anchor. I loved the writing aspect of it and really enjoyed the production tasks, such as editing and filming, that came with the job as well.

What was your first job out of college? 

My first job out of college was as a public relations coordinator for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the profession. The role exposed me to different aspects of public relations, from writing press releases and coordinating press conferences to scripting and producing video content. The variety of responsibilities challenged me to learn quickly and develop a well-rounded skill set. Looking back, that experience laid the foundation for my career and shaped me into the public relations professional I am today.

How did you end up in your current role?

After working in-house for about seven years, I was ready for a bigger challenge in public relations, and I thought joining an agency would be the best move for my career. Then it was about finding a PR firm that best aligned with my industry experience. Having spent the last five and a half years in health insurance, I thought Kimball Hughes Public Relations would be a good fit given their insurance expertise. I also felt a very strong cultural fit. With that said, it was a no-brainer to join.

What has surprised you most about your career or yourself given your current role?

What surprises me the most about public relations is the different opportunities that are out there. I’ve found there are a ton of companies and c-level executives that believe in the power of PR and throw their support behind thoughtful PR strategies. That creates a variety of opportunities for professionals in our field to stay challenged, engage in a fulfilling career and earn a solid living.

What have you learned from your career journey?

For me, the most rewarding part of public relations is seeing the real-world impact it can have. It gives you the opportunity to bring attention to important issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. With the right strategy and the right media coverage, you can spark meaningful conversations that have the potential to influence perspectives and even drive change.

What lesson or myth-busting idea would you want to share with someone thinking about a career in public relations?

Internships are invaluable for anyone considering a career in public relations. They not only help you determine whether the field is the right fit, but they also provide hands-on experience that sets you apart when applying for full-time roles. I’m convinced I wouldn’t have landed my first PR job with the Pennsylvania House of Representatives without the internship experience I gained in college. 

Managing a Crowded Hour with the Media

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Theodore Roosevelt described his experience leading his Rough Riders, a volunteer cavalry force, on a charge up San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American war as his crowded hour. He used the phrase to describe an intense, critical and life-altering activity where he risked all to achieve a monumental goal; in this case, taking the hill and securing a strategic advantage for the U.S. military.

While few public relations professionals take on anything beyond proverbial fire (they do call us flacks), if you have been in the communications trenches long enough, you have experienced a comms-version of your own crowded hour. Often, these crowded hours involve the need to convey a crucial organizational message or announcement in the wake of bigger news events.

The question, in these high-stakes media moments, is what to do?

Which Hill to Climb?

There are a range of approaches, and each offers its own risk-reward scenario to consider.

  • Ride the Wave. If the situation is pliable, you may be able to tie the organization news or announcement to the bigger issue or news wave dominating the media. This could come in the form of expert commentary as well as market or trend analysis. For instance, if the dominant story is about a major cybersecurity incident and you’re announcing a new SaaS or tech tool, lean on the product or service’s security features to reassure your target audience this new product or service is meeting the moment by providing improved security.
  • Try New Channels. If there is a market-moving event, the likelihood business or trade media will focus on your announcement is slim. The good news is the media market has fractured enough that there are ample opportunities to still get your message out. Social media (especially LinkedIn) can be a godsend and is a major tool feeding AI searches today. Specialty outlets like Substack and Medium can provide access to laser-focused audiences regardless of the news cycle. There are also countless podcasts that have gained credibility and wider audiences. And never count out trade newsletters, which sometimes speak more directly to audiences. 
  • Lengthen Your Runway. Try splitting your announcement into a range of different angles or news hooks. This can include client-testimonials, regional statistics or vignettes, contributed articles to trade media, pithy video content for the organization’s owned social channels (i.e., YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, etc.) as well as both your email and LinkedIn newsletters. (*If you aren’t self-publishing a LinkedIn newsletter you’re missing a tremendous audience as a B2B brand regardless of the news cycle.)
  • Hold the Announcement. Reading the room is a critical communications tactic. There are moments such as the 9/11 attacks, the March 2008 run on Bear Stearns and the February 2026 initiation of major combat operations in Iran that can distract from all other news events. There are also regional or more focused events, such as school shootings or VIP arrests or deaths that can dominate broader news cycles. In these instances, it’s not worth the risk of your news being missed entirely or only reaching a fraction of your target audiences while the focus is on other events or news. Delay the press release, LinkedIn or other social media posts.

Good public relations professionals, and certainly those who have been through a crowded hour or two, will formulate an informed opinion and advise senior leadership accordingly. 

Experienced leaders should heed the experienced advice provided from their comms teams.  Those who ignore that advice risk wasting their efforts during the media’s crowded hour and damaging their reputations with the media in the process. 

Why Smart Companies Want Journalists on Their PR Teams

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When I was a working journalist, I sometimes hung up on public relations people who called my office. I regret doing so because now I’m on the other end of the line.

While my response back then showed a lack of maturity as well as patience, my reasoning was on somewhat solid ground. Well intentioned, no doubt, those I hung up on would lead the call with some version of the following: “I’m calling on behalf of XYZ company, and I’m just following up to see if you received the press release I sent you by fax.”

In addition to dating myself, the above illustrates how the PR person never considered the perspective of his audience: me, a working journalist.

On any given day, we would receive about one dozen press releases along with two or three menus from local lunch spots promoting that day’s specials. The 1990s were wild; loaded with possibilities and dining options. Still, we had a small team and responding on receipt to each release was never going to happen. Also, there’s nothing remotely engaging about the above phone pitch. Would you search breathlessly to find their press release? I didn’t.

Eventually someone would skim the resulting stack of streaky press releases. If the headline or lede didn’t grab and hold us immediately, it was tossed into the recycle bin. Most were drenched in florid verbiage celebrating the wonder of monumental pronouncements that were of zero interest to our readers.

The Perspective Problem

As a former journalist who never studied PR, I had to reverse engineer my approach to the practice when I entered public relations. That meant identifying the interests of the audience, finding a compelling story or idea that matched that interest, and then dialing in the client’s value proposition. Over the course of two decades I have refined the approach, gut checking myself with current working journalists to make sure what my colleagues and I do remains effective. And when change is needed, we adjust.

That journalism-first perspective has served me, and my clients, well. 

It’s not that native public relations professionals, those who train for the job from the start, aren’t effective. On the contrary, the really good ones, and there are many—including among our team—bring skill and intellect that, well applied, are powerful force multipliers. And when you can teach these PR pros to think like journalists, well, the effect can be positively stunning. 

What former journalists bring to PR sets them apart from the traditional training provided in college for PR pros. Former journalists will:

  • Stress test a story or pitch concept before it ever lands in a journalist’s inbox
  • Constructively, but insistently, push back on leadership who want to promote a story with no news value
  • Not confuse a feel-good company newsletter concept for an actual newsworthy story
  • Always remember trade journalists receive 100-or-more press releases per day while mainstream news outlet reporters get as many as 300 per day, and act accordingly
  • Never forget to consider working journalists are time starved and have zero interest in doing anyone a favor
  • Filter announcements and messaging for credibility, legal exposure, source strength and headline worthiness because that was the job as they pursued enterprise stories from their newsroom days

A Nose for News

Experienced journalists-turned-PR-pros know what today’s journalists need. They know most journalists are skeptics, so they will redouble their efforts to make any press release or announcement bullet-proof and factually accurate. Quotes in a release have to say something meaningful and memorable. They push their clients to stay engaged with media rather than just reaching out with promotional announcements because credibility, availability and consistency matter to journalists looking for reliable sources. And they should have the courage to respect their clients enough to push back when an idea or story concept will fail to serve the reputation of the executive or organization well because their experience and training validate that perspective. 

In short, former journalists working at PR agencies are ideal sounding boards because they’ve had to assess countless pitches to determine real news value, and that’s a skill that never leaves the soul of a journalist. 

This skill, applied to the advocacy they undertake for clients in their PR roles, can be the difference between securing one-off or infrequent coverage and becoming a trusted, reliable and quotable source media will return to regularly.