Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: newsrooms in 2026 are having a tough year.
Cision’s 2026 State of the Media Report found that about half of journalists now point to shrinking budgets, staff cuts and heavier workloads as their biggest daily challenge, a sharp jump from last year.
Continuing a decades-long trend, journalists must do more with less, so reporters are leaning on PR professionals more to find the stories worth telling. Cision’s report also found that two-thirds of journalists say PR-provided content is their leading source of story ideas, ahead of social media, rival outlets and industry events.
PR professionals have increasing influence over what gets covered, and the editors we work with have less time and patience. In a year when anyone can spin up a “personalized” pitch in about three seconds with an AI tool, the stuff that actually earns coverage hasn’t changed.
As James Carville once said, “It’s the relationship, stupid!” (Well.. that’s not exactly what he said, but the point stands.)
Our relationships with journalists are the one thing that no tool can fake. Here’s a look at what really matters when it comes to managing a media relations program in 2026:
1. Relationships live in the notes
The best working media relationships are built on memory, not just contact information. After all, it’s not hard to find a reporter’s email address. What really matters is understanding the human that you’re reaching out to.
To do this, it’s all about keeping track of the small things. A reporter covered a retail returns fraud story last spring, so a new data point on that beat is a welcome gift. Or maybe a LinkedIn connection mentioned they are heading to Retail Club in September, or they posted about switching outlets, or that a child is starting college. Take note of these and mention them in interactions.
These thoughtful comments make a world of difference between “here’s a pitch” and “I thought of you specifically because of the work you already do.”
It’s not about treating media relations like a numbers game with the goal of reaching as many inboxes as possible and hoping something sticks. When reporters receive sometimes hundreds of pitches a week, they’ll sense that immediately.
Slow down, pay attention to the little things, and take care to remember key details about a reporter. The payoff comes when you do have something genuinely relevant for them because you have already earned the two seconds it takes them to open your email.
2. “The Media” isn’t one audience
As a personal aside, I cringe every time I hear someone say, “the media,” as if the thousands of professionals working across outlets of all types and mediums exist as one group. But practically, treating media professionals like this is the fastest way to waste their time.
In today’s media landscape, it’s important to understand the unique characteristics of the individuals and outlets worth targeting because they all have different needs:
- Traditional print and digital media, the top-tier and trade reporters and editors, generally want a timely news hook and a reason their readers should care. Things that have real news value, like new research data or announcements tied to an important brand on their beat.
- Industry analysts operate on a different clock. They want technical substance and context around specific technology developments. These relationships are fostered over months and years of consistent engagement with a company.
- Then there’s the growing world of nontraditional voices: the podcasters, Substack authors and independent creators. These industry influencers are after a genuine, non-promotional point of view and an experienced guest, not a press release.
Understanding the modern media ecosystem and what different types of media professionals need changes how to approach them. Don’t send an analyst the same breaking news pitch you would a trade reporter. The ability to read the room and match the outreach with the kind of contact you’re dealing with has become one of the most valuable skills a PR professional can have.
3. You have to understand how outlets operate
One piece that’s easy to overlook: knowing a reporter’s beat is only half the equation. It’s important to also understand how their outlet operates.
Some publications welcome contributed bylines and thought leadership articles, and others won’t touch them. The ones that do all have their own submission process, including word counts and formatting preferences. Already knowing whether an outlet accepts contributed content and what they expect makes it much easier for them to say yes.
It’s simple and unglamorous knowledge, but doing the legwork ahead of time is the kind of thing that gets a client actually published instead of left in an editor’s inbox.
4. Media relations is a living thing
Finally, what we knew even a month ago is already outdated. Journalists constantly change beats, outlets, move across the country or leave the industry entirely. According to Press Gazette’s running tally, more than 2,300 newsroom jobs disappeared in the first half of 2026, a pace running about 34% ahead of last year.
A relationship isn’t something to build once and file away. A writer that I had a rapport with last year may now be somewhere new, covering something different, or gone. Keeping up with these changes — and genuinely caring when someone’s situation shifts — is part of the work we do.
As PR professionals, it’s so important that we treat our relationships with media as living things, worth checking in on and keeping current. It’s how we ensure that we have these relationships when it counts.
The job hasn’t changed
PR tools keep changing, outlets keep consolidating, technology keeps getting shinier and the next AI feature will promise to automate all of this away, saving you valuable time and effort.
That’s not the point. None of that changes the actual job we do. Media relations has always been about earning an editor’s trust, being useful to them and remembering who the person is on the other end.
At Ketner Group, relationships matter most at the end of the day. It’s the foundation of our business and the work we do for our clients. If you want to build a program that earns real trust and drives genuine impact, we’d love to talk.
Austin
