Media Relations Isn't Dead—It's Evolving

 

Media relations, till not very long ago, was what defined the PR process. Clients thought, with much justification, that the success of a PR agency or consultant was in direct proportion to how well acquainted they were with members of the press across the various beats of journalism. After all, that is what determined the success of their ability to obtain the all important coverage they wanted for their products and services. That is why media relations lay at the centre of a PR organisation’s universe.

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I remember during my time with a leading Indian PR agency, we were given a weekly budget to take out leading journalists for lunch. The idea was to get to know them in a manner that made it possible to pitch stories to them in an optimal manner.

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The rapid growth of the Internet, online and social media has upended the world of PR. The tried and tested media relations approach of the past no longer works. While media relations stays central to the PR process, it needs to keep pace with the dynamic, ever evolving, multi-channel, and forever churning nature of news media in the age of AI.

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Besides, journalists these days don't just work for reputed media houses; they often have their own social media and online presence of considerable significance. When a PR person pitches to them, he or she has to think not just about the news organisation the journalist represents, but also their own audiences that they may be reaching through their blogs, social media posts, podcasts and newsletters.

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Press Release Centric Approach No Longer Works

The ubiquitous press release is no longer the principal driver of media relations like it was in the past. Journalists in the digital age receive an exceedingly large number of press releases every day and simply do not possess the bandwidth to go through them all. Instead, they would rather respond to communication that is personalised and addresses them directly. In an era of real-time news, a press release is often too slow and cumbersome to gain meaningful traction.

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Look Way Beyond Traditional Media

While traditional print and electronic media still retain considerable credibility and heft, you have to cast your net much wider to encompass new-age distribution channels like blogs, vlogs, newsletters, podcasts and other content creators. Every story that you pitch has to be tailored to synchronise with the channel in question. What this in effect means is that your media relations efforts need to go beyond cultivating legacy media journalists and look at building bridges with the people responsible for generating content for a host of new-age media channels.

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AI is All Important; But Media Relations Are Still Very Relevant

Leading media intelligence platform Cision who carried out a PR survey in the UK and the US recently regarding the challenges, tools, skills, and opportunities that PR professionals would have to contend in 2026. It found that 48% of the respondents named AI and automation as the source of the greatest opportunity for a PR team, followed by strengthening relationships with journalists and creators at 39%. 

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This points to the fact that media relations is far from dead and has only evolved with the times by broadening its scope of outreach, instead of jettisoning it completely.

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Media Relations Now Includes a Creator Outreach Strategy

Given the increasing importance of creators in the new age PR approach, PR professionals need to have a creator outreach strategy along the lines of a traditional media relations plan. Like you create media lists of journalists across the beats relevant to your brand, you need to cull out a similar list of creators whose messaging and audience have synergy with the brand that you are trying to promote.

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You can proceed to build trust-based and value-based relationships with them by earnestly engaging with their content and looking at them as people you could collaborate with in the future. You can help them with their stories by sharing useful data pertaining to the product and service in question. This goes beyond the old way of sending journalists a generic press release, hoping that they would make something of it.

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Media relations is not only not dead; it is also probably in no danger of doing so ever. It has evolved over time to factor in the new realities of the ever-evolving and dynamic universe of digital and AI-age PR. Media relations, in fact, is much more expansive than it was in the past and remains a significant part of the PR process.

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5 PR Mistakes Startups Make—and Why They Keep Getting Ignored by the Media

 PR often is the very lifeblood of startups as it gets their marketing effort going without them having to break the bank. Unlike advertising, it is economical and a great vehicle for building credibility.

​That being said, carrying out effective PR is not something that many startups get right. They might obsess over product features instead of defining a clear strategic road map for their business. A lot of thinking and planning should ideally go into understanding the target audience and building up one’s brand.

​Let us look at where a startup might go wrong in its PR effort-

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1. Not Getting the Communication Dissemination Process Right

PR in 2026 is not the PR of ten to fifteen years back. Storied publications like the New York Times, The Times of India, The Washington Post and the Hindustan Times are not what people automatically turn to these days for their news. The disseminators of news and information are a diffused lot these days, with social media platforms, blogs, vlogs, YouTube videos and podcasts catering to their own specific audiences, largely replacing traditional media outlets.

​Startups can no longer rely on old style press releases and media interactions, with an Op-Ed thrown in for good measure targeting traditional media outlets to promote the offerings of their business. They need an evolved and dynamic PR strategy that speaks to the new-age media platforms of news dissemination.

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2. Not Getting the Message Right

This is the trickiest part and could make or break a startup’s PR initiative. Founders can talk passionately about their grand vision, but when it comes to explaining in simple terms what they exactly do and help accomplish, they flounder and are unable to come up with an unmistakable crystal clear message for their target audience. A startup founder should know exactly what it is that they offer to their prospects in terms of solving their problems in a manner that they sit up and take notice. You get that right, and that is an important step in the direction of making them care about engaging with you. The key here is to differentiate your product or service from the others.

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3. Conflating Founder News with Real News

Startups more often than not are the passion projects of extremely committed founders. It is, therefore, easy to conflate founder news with the real news. Just because a startup company is all pumped up about an important announcement relating to the founder, it does not naturally follow that journalists and their readers or viewers will share the same sense of excitement. He or she may have launched a new product, managed to raise capital or hired someone with a sterling reputation; it won’t cut much ice with journalists and media outlets unless they find something newsworthy in the proposed story.

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This could be something that ties in with a trend that the latter (journalist) might already be following, or it is something that sparks a debate or even a controversy. It could also be something that has a human interest angle to it. It is always about newsworthy debate and discussion and rarely about founder news.

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4. Looking at PR with a Marketing Lens

Founders are, at the end of the day, business people with a product to sell. Unfortunately, that is not the way one can look at PR. Coverage obtained via PR is earned coverage and not bought coverage. Journalists are not obligated to provide coverage to a company, but to inform, educate and sometimes caution people about things and matters that concern them. It may, for instance, apprise them of any future trends that might impact their lives or educate them about the importance of a new concept or phenomenon making an appearance, often by weaving evocative stories. It is in learning to seamlessly integrate one’s narrative into what the journalist’s story or report is trying to accomplish that one finds success.

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5. The Need to Understand PR

Founders need to understand the PR process and not get disheartened if their initial efforts don’t quickly get them the expected results. PR takes time to deliver as it is a relatively slow and organic process, as compared to advertising, but it is ultimately believed to deliver better results and more bang for the buck, given that the media coverage is earned and not bought.  Founders, as it is under a lot of pressure from multiple sources and seeing one’s intense PR efforts not seeming to deliver any results for quite some time, can be disconcerting. Getting disheartened and losing faith in PR is something that startup founders need to guard against.

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They need to understand the PR process and devise a strategy that helps them obtain an understanding of how to get a journalist, publication or media platform interested in their pitches. That is where a dedicated PR specialist or an agency can help them find their groove faster.

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PR is something that every startup needs. It is, therefore, imperative for founders to accord it the importance it deserves and see PR help them engage with the target audience in the most impactful way possible. In fact, if done right, PR has the potential to transform the fortunes of any business, especially a startup.

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Why CEOs Should Post on LinkedIn Every Week

 

There’s that famous old saying by the famous French philosopher Descartes: I think, therefore I am. This kind of points to the role of a CEO in a business, as he or she is essentially a leader who needs to, above everything else, think and communicate his or her vision for the future of the company to their employees, stakeholders and customers. LinkedIn is undoubtedly the place to do it, and posting weekly on that platform helps them achieve just that with its extensive reach amongst a company’s primary stakeholders.

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For CEOs, using social media as their go-to medium for marketing their company as well as advocating on its behalf to the right target audiences is a foregone conclusion these days. Social media platforms like LinkedIn have the ability to outperform traditional forms of media like print and television, and this is not lost on industry leaders like CEOs.

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For them, posting regularly on LinkedIn, which is the most appropriate social media platform for them, makes eminent sense. By doing so, they can open direct channels of communication with employees, customers, peers and other stakeholders.

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If they do it regularly, like on a weekly basis, it helps build their social media clout and establish their credentials as thought leaders in their respective fields. Their voice effectively becomes an extension of their company's voice, speaking directly to the people who matter most from that company's growth prospects point of view.

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This is especially true of small businesses and startups. Content posted on a personal LinkedIn profile is known to generate 2.75 times more impressions and 5 times more engagements when compared with sharing the same content via a brand page. This is because a CEO’s engagement with its target audience on a consistent basis leads to more personal engagement that resonates in a way that paid media or corporate outreach can never replicate.

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LinkedIn algorithm is skewed in favour of personal profiles

Organic reach on LinkedIn these days has moved to personal profiles as well as employees. This means that the Linkedin algorithm favours content posted by actual people over what is posted via brand channels. It is primed to display content that is useful to users. What that translates to is the fact that it gives prominence to posts from people users are already interacting with. This supports the contention that CEOs should post on LinkedIn regularly, and doing so on a weekly basis will work out very well for them and the brand that they represent. The LinkedIn algorithm has now started rewarding content that provides genuine value to the users by way of high-quality interactions. The amount of time users spend consuming the content and the intensity of the engagement are key factors in shaping the algorithm’s propensity to promote it.

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What should they post?

There is a lot that CEOs can share with their target audience in their weekly LinkedIn posts. From valuable industry insights and perspectives to sharing anecdotes about their work life that offer pertinent lessons, and from sharing path-breaking ideas to the intricacies of decision-making, there is much that a CEO has to share with their followers and connections.

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A CEO has unique shareable insights that can shine a light on issues ranging from talking about industry trends, business decisions and hiring challenges to strategic decision-making and coping with technological change; there is so much of value that a CEO can share with his various target audiences. Above all, a CEO who posts regularly gives an organisation a human face, enabling it to engage in a personal dialogue with people that matter to it.

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Introverts Can Build Powerful Personal Brands Too

 

Being an introvert by nature needn't get in the way of your building a powerful brand. Firstly, there is nothing inherently wrong or negative about being one. Just as some people are extroverts, there are those who are introverts. Somebody may be a voracious meat eater, and someone may be a die-hard vegan. You are what you are.

​However, in a world where your personal brand influences how successful your professional life will be, the inability to loudly proclaim your achievements may be seen as a major impediment to growing your clout. As the old adage goes- the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

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The internet sets you free

​The internet enables even the shiest and the most diffident of individuals to connect with innumerable people across the globe from the safety and comfort of a room, a public park or a cafe. All that one needs is access to an internet connected gadget like a laptop, tablet or smartphone. You can express yourself confidently over time without suffering any performance anxiety that an in-person presentation might have caused. It is not as if it is the extroverts who are somehow the exceptional lot, deserving all the success. If you are a silent genius at something, the internet will show you how to present your skills to those who value it.

​A traditional craftsperson in the interior regions of India today can create a website and demonstrate their wares to an appreciative global audience without having to rely on unscrupulous middlemen who would underpay them for their work. If you are an introvert, then you are in the illustrious company of the likes of Einstein and Warren Buffett, with the only difference being that your being introverted will not stop you from engaging with the world or make it exceedingly slow and difficult. The internet will see to it.

​Today, there are a whole slew of talented individuals who run businesses powered by the internet. From an aspiring baker showcasing their homemade offerings on Instagram and YouTube and creating a roaring business in the process to a retired corporate employee offering management consultancy services online, there is a very large number of introverted individuals who are quietly building and expanding their brands in a very substantial manner, thanks to the internet.

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Create a digital presence par excellence

​As the internet solves the problem of coping with performance pressure and anxiety borne out of fear of interacting with large numbers of people, it makes eminent sense for introverts to capitalise on the opportunities presented by digital platforms to engage with the right kind of target audience and grow their clout.

​Blogging is something that introverts might take to quite well. They can take their time in creating such content where they can delve deep into their area of expertise and provide valuable insight to the people who need it.  Video content may have been a no go area for introverts in the past, but with generative AI making text to video conversion possible, introverts now have the ability to leverage the power of video without once having to show their face. The rise of podcasting as a highly effective medium of outreach is also easier for introverts to take to, as they can always read from a prepared text. Besides, AI can help them both enhance their voice or even generate a synthetic voiceover. Lastly, with everybody and their uncle sharing their lives freely on social media, introverts too can use its various platforms at their own convenience and over time create a voice that matters and resonates with their intended target audience.

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The age of the introvert

​In an era where AI can and often does outsmart and outperform the most extroverted motor mouths and exuberant communicators, it is the real and thoughtful approach of an introvert who has something of value to share that commands a premium. People like connecting and engaging with those who are thoughtful. Over-the-top communication does not cut much ice with people in an age of information overload-the sharing of ideas does. If you are an introvert seeking to build a powerful brand of your own, this is the best time to do so.

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Building Influence Without Going Viral

 

In an era where going viral is seen as the ticket to fame, clout, wealth and success, those who wish for the latter but don't care about the former often feel a sense of dismay owing to the fact that they may be missing out on growth opportunities big- time. But you can build influence without shouting from the rooftops in an attempt to go viral.

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As a matter of fact, sudden and intermittent virality is no guarantor of your ability to influence people as a content creator. Rather, slow and steady outreach is a better strategy, and you would do well to abide by the tortoise and the hare fable.

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Let your expertise shine through

As AI becomes increasingly all-pervasive, it is not gimmickry and your ability to make noise and attract attention that will stand you in good stead, but your proven expertise. This is what will help you build a rock solid reputation over time affording you the opportunity to monetise your skill. Somebody like Christopher Nolan lets the sheer quality of his motion picture creations cement his reputation as one of the greatest cinematic creators of all time. It is not VFX generated special effects or super budgets that define his abilities, but raw film making ability honed over years that marks him out as the genius that he is. This has not surprisingly resulted in spectacular box office earnings for his latest masterpiece, The Odyssey, which have already crossed $1.5 billion globally.

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You don’t have to be an influencer to bear influence

We seem to be living in the age of influencers of all shapes and sizes. The internet has democratised the playing field for would-be celebrities and influencers, and that is a good thing too. However, not everyone is willing to, or indeed inclined to, be a bona fide influencer, yet want to bear influence on a target audience that is relevant to them.

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The good news for them is the fact that there is much more to bearing influence than hordes of followers and the ability to create viral posts. Your conduct can help you influence others. Gandhi and Mandela influenced millions simply by the way they lived their life. Their lives truly became their message. If you are someone with unimpeachable character and are able to provide or add value to peoples’ lives in a substantial manner, you will definitely make an impact and, therefore, bear considerable influence over them.  You don’t need social media to validate your ability to bear influence- you need to possess the ability to add positive value to people’s lives.

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Understand what influence is

Influence is not defined by your ability to go viral. It is also not about being present everywhere and collecting as many followers as you can. If you have clarity of thought and a clearly defined vision which you articulate on a consistent basis, you will leave a mark. You will not merely be popular; you will be looked up to. You will be able to build a bridgehead of trust to your people. The popularity of newsletters and their growing viability as a means of creating a regular income stream is a testament to powerful, slow and steady, willful and mindful outreach and engagement.

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You don’t have to work on cultivating star charisma to become a thought leader and influencer in a certain genre of expertise. What you need to do is to display your expertise and the value you bring to the table to win you over the admiration and support of people who are ready to swear by you. Elon Musk didn’t become the innovator and entrepreneur par excellence on account of his movie star looks. He achieved celebrity status and even bought social media giant Twitter by showing the world what he was actually capable of. The electric car revolution that we are witnessing around the world or the increasing participation of the private sector in sending satellites and people to space, is all on account of his pioneering vision. Today he may be a rock star influencer, but that is not how his journey began or what he is about.

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You can build influence by virtue of what you bring to the table in terms of what people value. Going viral is not a necessary step in that process.

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Why Your LinkedIn Profile Is Significantly More Important Than Your Resume

These days, more than your resume, it is your LinkedIn profile that is your professional calling card when it comes to furthering your career prospects. While your resume may willy-nilly make its way to a handful of people you thought you must approach, your LinkedIn profile can be accessed by its 1.3 billion registered users. Of these, the largest segment is an impressive 33%, comprising people in the 25- to 34-year age group. This means that rather than you chasing would-be employers, they find you themselves. In fact, thanks to your Linkedin profile, they are reasonably aware of your credentials even before they have exchanged pleasantries with you. There is not much you can do with the good old simple resume in comparison.

LinkedIn has changed the whole paradigm of the hiring process, making it more dynamic, interactive, real and personal. You don’t just send out resumes to people you want to engage and forge connections with and hope for the best anymore. Instead, LinkedIn professes your case better than a paid advertisement or PR exercise to just the people who can best help you enhance your career prospects. It represents who you are professionally in terms of your achievements, complete with the relevant testimonials, giving people more than an up-to-date snapshot of your credentials.

LinkedIn is the place for business and professional connections

LinkedIn is by far the best place to forge and foster business and professional connections. This is the place where you can zero in on a large number of job opportunities and offers. It is the junction where you can easily not just connect, but also engage with companies seeking to employ people like you and help you further your career prospects optimally.

For business people too, LinkedIn is the ideal platform for efficiently connecting and engaging with prospects and future clients. Besides, business leaders can also project themselves as influential voices of industry- something that enhances their personal profile as well as that of the brand they represent. Apart from that, businesses are enabled to source the best talent in their respective industries by virtue of the clout they have built up on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Delivers

A mere traditional resume cannot possibly compare with what a well made LinkedIn profile can deliver. It is pertinent to note that there are a whopping 67.1 million companies on LinkedIn, with as many as 6 people being hired every minute through the platform. Can anyone, therefore, doubt that it delivers in spades? According to LinkedIn itself, while its hiring technology possesses the ability to make use of both user profile and resume data, the icing on the cake is the fact that the profile is searchable by a potential hirer even if someone is not actively searching for a job. This social media platform par excellence actually works towards improving your job prospects, without your even being actively involved in the process. Can your resume do any of that?

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Why Expertise Is the New Currency

 

You are what you do-at least to the world that interacts with you. They value you for the value you provide them with or bring to their lives. This has been true since the earliest times when people bartered their skills to make their lives easier and better collectively.

We live in an unprecedented era where AI is taking over the jobs and professions of more and more people, leaving them to figure out what to do for a living. What is it that people will employ them for? As always, it is their expertise, the caveat being that they possess what AI cannot offer.

Any individual or business would like to tap into the creative imagination, unique skills, experience and specialist expertise of talented and empowered individuals. These are people who can help tackle hitherto intractable problems. In a universe that swears by AI and Big Data, cutting-edge information, knowledge and expertise can empower you like nothing else. It is the new currency of our times.

According to PWC, 23% of CEOs worldwide think that the availability of workers who possess key skills is a threat to growth. That is the reason why employees consider an upskilling opportunity to be the major factor behind their decision to continue their association with their employer. Expertise comes from knowledge, so it follows that knowledge itself could be viewed as currency. Knowledge helps you deal with challenges by empowering you to adapt and adjust to an ever changing, and  ever dynamic environment,  thereby allowing you to identify and capitalise on opportunity upon opportunity. Expertise created from knowledge helps add value to your resume like nothing else does.

Expertise to Power the Creative Economy

The advent of the creator economy brought about by the internet revolution is a wonderful thing. It demolished gatekeepers and allowed anybody who thought they had something to pitch or present to people easy and unimpeded access to the latter. But with managing to attract attention turning out to be the centrepoint of this ecosystem, the really meritorious people could sometimes not earn as much as they deserved.

There is no dearth of content on the internet, especially in the wake of a slew of GenAI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. This has made people place a premium on expertise earned through real experience and knowledge- something that can help address real people’s real problems and issues. Because expertise is difficult to come by, it is valued all the more.

People who have proven expertise will lead the charge for the creator economy, henceforth. Now is the time to establish your credentials as a bona fide creator in a specific category or niche. Those who do that will be able to cash in on their skills and scale up their business model or enhance their employability in a major way.

Skills and Expertise Trump All

More than your qualifications, it is your demonstrable skills that will determine your usefulness to businesses across industries. Skills and expertise are the new in-demand currency that opens pathways to opportunity. They help you navigate the uncertainties of a dynamic environment in a resilient manner.

Is it any wonder then that the global e-learning market is expected to reach more than $400 billion this year? Given that 39% of workers’ current skill sets are likely to be in need of change and transformation if not become redundant by 2030, the importance of updating your skills cannot be understated.

The way that the internet has replaced the old system of earning access in order to progress with a free-wheeling one with an evolving code of conduct, you are often not sure of getting your rightful due. That era is coming to an end, and we are in the throes of the unfolding of the era of expertise. Do you have it in you to thrive in it?