In this edition you will find:
By Lexie Iles, former Channel 5 News Producer
Rumours broke last week that Reach Plc executives expect reporters to write eight per shift, as revealed by HoldTheFrontPage.
This kind of ‘churn’ raises questions around the quality of reporting. As a former Reach Plc employee I can vouch for the challenges it presents.
News that is available without a paywall has to make its money somewhere, so these publications frequently rely very heavily on ads for revenue. Thus the more clicks on a story, the more eyes on that advert.
This ‘churn’ culture is nothing new but it begs the question; how do you run a business that supplies news to readers for free?
This is where brands can plug the gap. High quality pitches with strong case studies make the job of a journalist that little bit easier, giving them more time to focus on high quality original journalism, meaning everybody wins.
You can read further thoughts on why brands must avoid a race to the bottom to win earned coverage from MHP Director of Earned Media James Rollinson on PR Week here.
By Abi Smith
In today’s world of corporate scandals and business drama, “following the money” has never been so relevant to journalists.
It’s not just the real-life scandals either, just look at Moneyball and Succession. Stories about corporate corruption, financial misdeeds and business cover-ups are fascinating to a much broader audience. Financial journalism is no longer seen by the public as numbers and annual reports: it’s about greed, power and corruption.
At a Women in Journalism event this week, some of the UK’s most influential financial investigative journalists spoke to MHP about how this shift in interest is changing the future of investigations.
How to find those stories? Follow the money.
To quote Jane Martinson, former Head of Media for the Guardian: “It’s all about people with power and how they behave to people with none”.
MHP’s Alison Phillips chaired a Women in Journalism event on financial investigative journalism joined by: Madison Marriage, FT, Imogen Barrer, ITV, Hannah Cogan, Panorama/Dispatches, and Jane Martinson, former Head of Media, the Guardian.
By James Rollinson
New data from YouGov revealed that more four in ten Britons (43%) feel there are too few light hearted stories in the news, compared to just over one in nine (11%) who feel that such stories are given excessive focus.
The question of balance as long been at the heart of editing newspapers. As Graham Hiscott, Head of Business at The Mirror, told MHP at one of our In Conversation With events, light and shade is vital to selling papers and generating clicks.
News over the past five years has been dominated by a series of once-in-a-generation events, including Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical instability in Ukraine and the Middle East, and a major cost of living crisis.
If papers, magazines, TV channels and radio stations reported only on these heavy, and at times harrowing, developments, consumers would simply stop engaging with them. The light, as Graham puts it, has never been more important.
This presents an opportunity for brands to provide timely, relevant, and fun stories that editors can rely on to lift the mood of their paper or website. Whether it’s through polling, proprietary data, an unexpected partnership or something bigger, journalists will always be grateful when pitched stories that will lighten the mood at morning conference.
By Maliha Reza
MHP recently had the pleasure of welcoming Alison Phillips as Senior Advisor after a seasoned career as a journalist, which includes six years as Editor-in-Chief of the Mirror.
Alison sat down with MHP’s Nick Barron to discuss the role journalists have in holding power to account, challenges in the news industry and the growing impact of social media on journalism.
How challenging is it to monetise news currently, and who is managing it well?
It’s incredibly difficult to make money out of news. I think The Times and Telegraph are doing quite well with their subscription model. Publications dependent on advertising – particularly low-grade programmatic advertising- are really going to struggle over the next few years.
As a journalist you had the power to decide what was and wasn’t talked about. How did you decide?
You can use all the data and tools at your disposal to see the trends coming down the line. But also, you must have a bit of a gut instinct. You can only have that gut instinct if you respect the people who are going to be consuming that content, because then you emphasise what they’re worried about and what they’re excited about.
Has social media made media coverage more or less powerful?
It’s interesting when you look at X (formerly Twitter), which is now losing a lot of influence [after Elon Musk’s takeover]. Even senior journalists are stepping back from the site.
Social media has obviously engaged lots more people in content, but none of that would have happened in the first place if it wasn’t for the established news organisations reporting.
10 to 15 years ago, we all thought the likes of Buzzfeed would be the future, and the Telegraph-type papers would be left far behind.
By Lulu Price
MHP’s Lulu Price shares insight from Maya Wilson Autzen, Money Writer at The Telegraph, on how to secure impactful coverage. Below are the key takeaways from their discussion:
ITV’s Good Morning Britain received 700 Ofcom complaints this month after a heated exchange took place between Nigel Farage and Susanna Reid.
Ofcom’s guidance to PRs and broadcasters is clear that broadcasters maintain editorial independence and control over programming, and there must be a distinction between editorial content and advertising.
What does that mean for PRs looking to place editorial content?
In many cases, only one brand mention will be allowed, while talent and spokespeople must have an authentic link to the campaign and will be expected to speak on issues beyond it. When looking to place broadcast interviews for brands in future, we need to consider the following questions:
By Alisha Pyzer
Jack Lefley will leave the newly-rebranded London Standard to become Editor-In-Chief of PA Media. He will replace Pete Clifton at the end of this year, who has been at the helm for over 9 years.
Shake-up at the Daily Mail this week as Ted Verity becomes editor-in-chief across all platforms including MailOnline. Verity has edited Mail newspapers since November 2021.
The Daily Mail’s Sean Poulter, Consumer Affairs Editor and Leah Montebello, business reporter, have both left the publication this week. Their new roles and replacements are yet to be announced.
Former City A.M. editor, Andy Silvester, will start at The Times at the end of this month as London editor.
Media Network recommends: You May Never See Us Again, Prof Jane Martinson, former Head of Media for Guardian News and Media.
Welcome to the Media Network bulletin, brought to you by MHP Group. Our unrivalled team of former journalists and media experts bring you the latest insights from behind the headlines. ... Read more
Welcome to the Media Network bulletin, brought to you by MHP Group. Our unrivalled team of former journalists and media experts bring you the latest insights behind the headlines.... Read more