4 Major Media Shakeups That Could Wreck Your PR Strategy
Freelancer writers are getting cut off, and your media opportunities are disappearing with them. These major publishing shakeups are making PR harder than ever.
Joni Sweet is a seasoned writer, editor, and content strategist with 13+ years of media experience. In this newsletter, Joni reveals her current assignments and insider tips to help PR professionals sharpen their pitches, avoid rookie mistakes, land coverage for their clients, and build stronger relationships with writers. Get ready for candid advice, a touch of sass, and secret strategies to make your pitches stand out.
Hi friends,
Last week, I told you about a news embargo disaster and promised to spill the real tea on whether you should even bother with embargoed info at all. That insight is coming—but right now, I’m in the thick of moving house and wrestling with first-time home-buyer nerves, so it’s getting temporarily shoved into a moving box.
In the meantime, there are a few big-deal policy changes happening in the media world that you should know about, and they’re threatening to crush the businesses of freelance writers you know and love. I’m stepping away from the packing tape for a minute to share what I’m hearing. Most of this intel comes from within the “whisper networks” of freelance writers and journalists—those backchannels where we swap industry news and talk openly about what’s going on. While these aren’t official announcements, they come from trusted colleagues and solid sourcing, so I believe they’re worth paying attention to.
Let’s dive in.
#1: Forbes Vetted freezes work with freelancers.
You may already be aware of this one, but as my friend and colleague Cassandra Brooklyn shared in a recent issue of her Substack, Forbes Vetted (the product review section of Forbes) has apparently frozen all work with freelancers, at least as of late last year. The Verge reported on this as well, noting that the changes come as a result of Google’s “site reputation abuse” policy.
What this means for you: With one fewer outlet working with freelancers, securing earned media—especially for product coverage—just got harder. You’ll need to build stronger relationships with staff writers (while competing with thousands of other publicists trying to do the same) and widen your scope to alternative publications.
#2: Major publisher axes work with ex-Forbes Vetted authors.
Former Forbes Vetted writers are getting the one-two punch right now.