Media’s use of PR-generated sources continues to evolve, with traditional press releases now taking a back seat to more engaging multimedia content, a research from global comms agency TheNewsMarket finds. The firm asked journalists to rate different types of media content—not surprisingly, content including images and video was rated as the most useful. Meanwhile, three quarters or respondents said press release distribution services alone were no longer a sufficient source for stories.
Reporters also gave high marks to companies with useful and informative online newsroom—two thirds of respondents indicated they visited online newsrooms as regularly as once a week, and one third said they visited at least one every day.
The study highlights the growing demand for online newsrooms, which are becoming a crucial tool for journalists to search for and source media content. The study also shows that it has now become essential for brands to offer their content in multimedia formats in order to maximize reach and effectively engage journalists.
Using the findings of this research, TheNewsMarket produced a whitepaper designed as a thought leadership piece to help brands and PR pros better engage journalists and distribute their content to a wider media audience. Highlights of the research are included in the infographic below.
“Brands who are winning the battle for consumers are publishing content at a relentless pace,” said Ed Lamoureaux, SVP at TheNewsMarket, in a news release. “News is no longer viable if there isn’t a video, photo or infographic available.”
It’s a trend Lamoureaux sees being driven by consumers: “We’re all now trained to expect engaging visual content and the delivery of engaging HD visual assets is only one click away for those creating content for screens of all sizes,” he added.
Download the complete report here.
Source: TheNewsMarket; edited by Richard Carufel
