When I first started Marketri, I knew absolutely nothing about the art and science of public relations. Like, embarrassingly, nothing. So, I did what any self-respecting entrepreneur would do in the pre-Amazon-delivery era: I drove to Barnes and Noble and invested in a very large PR manual. (The name escapes me now, but it was thick enough to double as a doorstop.)
That manual taught me something revolutionary: public relations was actually about relations. Who knew?
I spent hours learning how to research reporters, understand their beats, and craft pitches that felt personal rather than mass-produced. When I met with editors and reporters over coffee (remember when that was normal?), I made sure every story pitch was relevant, well-written, and crafted specifically for them, not blasted to hundreds of others.
Fast forward to 2025, and those “basic” practices I learned from that dusty manual? They’ve become so rare that they’re now considered cutting-edge strategy. We’re living through the ultimate marketing paradox: being authentically human has become the most innovative approach to earned media.
Welcome to the Great Authenticity Crisis
Here’s what’s happening in newsrooms right now, and why it should fundamentally change how every marketer, entrepreneur, and thought leader approaches media relations.
We’ve created a perfect storm of artificial everything. AI can now craft press releases in seconds, generate expert quotes on demand, and pump out hundreds of pitches faster than you can say “ChatGPT.” The result? Journalists are drowning in what one tech reporter described as “a wave of AI slop”¹ that’s making their jobs exponentially harder.
The numbers tell a story that should terrify every PR professional: fewer than 25% of pitches journalists receive are actually relevant to what they cover. ² That means three out of four emails hitting their inbox are essentially sophisticated spam. Meanwhile, 73% of journalists reject pitches because they’re not relevant to their area of coverage, ³ ranking this as their top frustration.
But here’s where it gets really dystopian. Recent investigations have uncovered dozens of instances where “digitally created professionals have been quoted as experts”⁴ by major outlets including BBC, The Guardian, and Newsweek. Journalists are unknowingly interviewing AI-enhanced fake personas and treating them as legitimate sources.
Think about that for a moment. We’ve reached a point where the people responsible for informing the public can’t distinguish between real experts and artificial ones.
The Economics of Artificial Expertise
I’ve been watching this trend accelerate, and the economic incentives are impossible to ignore. Why invest in senior PR professionals who take time to research five journalists and craft personalized pitches when AI can generate 500 generic ones in minutes?
I read about one journalist who now expects “many story pitches were written by chatbots,”⁵ while another described receiving “upward of 800 emails a day”⁶ during busy periods like gift guide season. As one PR veteran bluntly put it: “I imagine probably 80-85% of the emails you all get are wildly off target and have nothing to do with what you cover.”⁷
This isn’t just about ineffective pitching. It’s about the systematic breakdown of professional relationships that have powered earned media for generations.
The Great Inversion: When “Old School” Becomes Revolutionary
Here’s the plot twist that makes this situation fascinating from a strategic marketing perspective: the fundamental practices I learned from that Barnes and Noble manual have become so uncommon that they’re now considered innovative.
Cision’s 2025 State of the Media Report reveals that 85% of journalists say the best way to build a relationship is refreshingly simple: introduce yourself via email, even without a story to pitch. ⁸ In other words, the relationship-building basics that PR professionals practiced decades ago are now cutting-edge strategy.
Consider what we used to call professional competence:
Marketing Insights That Actually Work:
- Reading a journalist’s recent work before pitching
- Understanding their beat and target audience
- Building relationships over months and years, not just during campaigns
- Providing access to genuine experts with real credentials
- Following up thoughtfully without being pushy
These practices have become so rare that journalists express genuine surprise when someone demonstrates basic relevance and professionalism. It’s like watching someone be amazed that you held the door open for them.
The Trust Arbitrage Opportunity
Half of journalists now say their relationships with PR professionals are “vital to their success,”⁹ while 36% cite disinformation as their most pressing professional challenge. ¹⁰ They’re “fatigued by hype and skepticism” and actively seeking authentic sources they can trust.
This creates what I call the “trust arbitrage.” It’s a massive market opportunity for professionals who can prove their authenticity and deliver genuine value.
Journalists are now explicitly requesting “pitches grounded in reality, anchored by verified sources, third-party data, and credible SMEs (subject matter experts).”¹¹ They want “pre-vetted experts” who can help them cut through the noise and do their jobs more effectively.
For thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and subject matter experts, this represents the opportunity of a lifetime. While everyone else races to the bottom with AI-generated everything, you can win by being provably human, demonstrably expert, and genuinely helpful.
The New Economics of Authentic Expertise
Based on conversations with journalists and my own observations of successful media relations, here’s what actually works in 2025:
Research Like Your Career Depends on It: Because it does. One journalist put it perfectly: “Show me what your pitch has to do with my beat. Show me why your pitch is helpful/interesting to my readers.”¹² This means reading their last five articles, understanding their audience demographics, and knowing their publication’s editorial voice.
Lead with Service, Not Self-Promotion: The most successful experts I know focus obsessively on solving journalists’ problems, not promoting their own agendas. They provide background briefings, share relevant data, and offer insights even when they’re not actively pitching.
Master the Long Game: Research shows that “consistency in communication builds trust”¹³ and “when journalists can rely on you for timely and accurate information, they are more likely to consider you a credible source.” This isn’t about quick publicity hits. It’s about becoming someone’s go-to expert in your field.
Weaponize Your Authenticity: In a world flooding with fake experts and AI-generated content, verification becomes your competitive moat. Professional credentials, verifiable track record, and consistent thought leadership become your authenticity insurance policy.
Why Actually Caring Wins
Here’s what I’ve learned from watching hundreds of experts successfully navigate media relations: the ones who consistently win are those who genuinely understand that journalism serves a public purpose.
They respect deadline pressure. They provide complete, accurate information upfront. They’re honest about the limits of their expertise. Most importantly, they view media relationships as professional partnerships built on mutual value, not transactional exchanges designed to extract coverage.
When you combine authentic expertise with engaging communication, precise targeting, and genuine relationship-building, success becomes almost mathematically inevitable. You’re solving real problems in a marketplace increasingly flooded with artificial solutions.
Your Authenticity Action Plan
If you’re ready to cut through the AI noise and build meaningful media relationships that actually drive business results, here’s your strategic roadmap. But first, let’s be honest: this requires you to actually do the work.
I know, I know. In a world of shortcuts and automation, “doing the work” sounds almost quaint. But here’s the thing: while your competitors are blasting generic pitches to thousands of journalists, you’ll be building genuine relationships that compound over time.
Strategic Steps That Actually Work (But Require Real Effort):
- Audit your unique expertise: What do you know better than 99% of people? This isn’t a 10-minute brainstorm session. Really dig deep.
- Target with precision: Identify 10 journalists who cover your space. Read their last five articles. Understand their audience. Yes, it takes hours. Do it anyway.
- Start conversations, not campaigns: Introduce yourself professionally without pitching anything. Comment thoughtfully on their work. Share their articles when they’re genuinely valuable. This is relationship building, not quick-hit marketing.
- Build your authenticity portfolio: Create a consistent public record of your expertise through thought leadership. This takes months and years, not days and weeks.
- Measure relationships, not just reach: Track response rates, relationship depth, and long-term trust. The payoff isn’t immediate, but it’s exponentially more valuable than vanity metrics.
The truth is that most people won’t do this work because it’s easier to buy a media list and blast 500 generic pitches. That’s exactly why doing the work creates such a massive competitive advantage.
These relationships you’re building? They become personally and professionally rewarding in ways that go far beyond media coverage. You’ll develop genuine connections with people who shape public conversation. You’ll become a trusted source that journalists turn to when big stories break in your field.
Quick hits might feel satisfying in the moment, but they’re not sustainable when you have hundreds of competitors taking the same shortcut approach. Real relationship building? That’s your moat.
The Bottom Line
Remember that PR manual I bought at Barnes and Noble all those years ago? It turns out those “old-fashioned” principles weren’t outdated. They were ahead of their time.
In a world where anyone can generate content, being authentically human isn’t just a nice differentiator. It’s your sustainable competitive advantage. The future belongs to those who can prove they’re real, valuable, and trustworthy.
The journalists are waiting for someone genuine to show up in their inbox. The question is: will it be you, or will you get lost in the sea of artificial everything?
Ready to turn your authentic expertise into earned media gold? The old ways are the new ways, and the new ways just happen to work better than ever.
Sources:
- Columbia Journalism Review, “How We’re Using AI”
- Referenced in PR analysis from multiple industry sources
- Muck Rack’s State of Journalism Report
- Cybernews investigation, “Fake AI ‘subject matter experts’ are infiltrating your news stream,” April 2025
- Columbia Journalism Review, “How We’re Using AI”
- Journalist Aly Walansky, Muck Rack State of Journalism 2024 webinar
- Parry Headrick, Crackle PR founder, Muck Rack State of Journalism 2024 webinar
- Cision’s 2025 State of the Media Report
- Cision’s 2025 State of the Media Report
- PR Newsonline, “The State of Journalism in 2025”
- PR Newsonline, “The State of Journalism in 2025”
- Lauren Orsini, Tech Reporter, quoted in BuzzStream’s “How to Pitch Journalists”
- Agility PR Solutions, “Building authentic media relationships in a post-truth era”
