Shrinking newsrooms present opportunities

It is a fact that newsrooms across Australia have been shrinking in recent years.

In 2021, Australia was ranked as the 10^th most concentrated media market in the world.

The two years prior to that saw close to 300 newsrooms either downsize or close completely, and at least 30 areas across our vast country have no local print or digital news outlet (1).

In more recent news – pun fully intended – in late June, Nine announced that it would be laying off up to 200 staff, with close to half of that coming from the publishing arm of the business and 38 of those affected in tv news and current affairs.

That same month Seven delivered similar news announcing that up to 150 people were going to be made redundant.

In an ever-changing local media landscape, it is all about working within the confines of it.

Shrinking newsrooms present opportunities for PR professionals and in turn our clients.

We know that journalists are increasingly time poor and working in under-resourced workplaces.

This has been further exacerbated by global technological changes and a news cycle that is now 24/7.

The news doesn’t sleep.  

This also means that journalists are keen for ways to make their lives easier as their output increases and they are now under pressure to tell even more stories.

Pitches, op-eds and by-lines are ready to be taken.

It is about thinking like a journalist and understanding what they need, when sending that pitch to them and ensuring that it has all of the elements necessary for them to cover that story.

It is also about riding the wave of the news cycle and seeking reactive media opportunities for clients, having approved commentary prepped and ready to go that is timely with a strong call to action.

Finally, it is about forward planning, thinking about longer-lead time publications and their respective deadlines along with place holder stories in the lead up to Christmas, when most newsrooms work with skeleton staff.

By taking all of these elements into account, it is very much a case of shrinking newsrooms presenting an opportunity for PR professionals, to think of themselves and very much act as an extension of Australian newsrooms.