Right everyone, the lab coat is on. Gloves at the ready. Safety glasses perched on my nose. It’s time to dissect the organism that is my inbox.

I’ve had the great pleasure of being on the other end of steph(dot)spyro(at)reachplc(dot)com for over six years. I’d LOVE to know how many emails I’ve sent (but more importantly, received) since my first shift at the Express back in November 2019.

The answer for both is: A LOT.

Today, I want to explore the things I notice the second an email lands in my inbox. For this little exercise I’m going to open a bunch of emails randomly and see what jumps out at me first. Here goes!

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1. The sender: Every journalist will be different but it seems I’ve trained myself to first spot the sender. Who is the delightful human/bot at the other end of the message I’ve been sent? If I recognise your name, you’ve already bought yourself more time in my inbox. This is why I say building relationships with journalists is vital. It helps to comment on reporters’ LinkedIn profiles, liking their posts on their professional Instagram account or meeting journalists for coffee. When that name appears in my inbox, I know there's an understanding of the stories I cover. In the age of fake experts, the trust between reporter and comms pro matters more than ever.

2. The subject line: Once I’ve spotted the emailer, my eye next moves onto the subject line. I won’t dwell too much on the art of writing these as I’ve explored this here previously (and highly recommend you read). These matter. How you craft them can help sell a pitch… or dare I say even lead to an instant “delete”.

3. The scan test: Before I properly read anything, I do a quick visual sweep. Is this easy to digest or a wall of text? Bullet points, short paragraphs and clear structure buy you more time. I hate to say it but the formatting of a press release can be a MAJOR barrier to reading it. You’d be surprised by the number that are visually problematic. Lots don’t make for easy reading is all I’ll say…

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The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

“You idiot. You naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop.”

That’s how then Prime minister Tony Blair admonished himself for introducing laws 20 years ago allowing members of the public to make freedom of information requests of the government and public bodies.

The legislation was designed to allow transparency in public decision making but Blair quickly felt it made frank, private discussions in government more difficult – and had become a weapon for critics and journalists.

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He is of course right on that last point. It is part of the (entirely legitimate) armoury for journalists to get inside government, councils, the myriad of quangos and public bodies that spend taxpayers money for good or bad.

And as my colleague Steph explains in her essential guide to making FOI requests, it can generate a huge amount of great data that is of genuine public interest.

But what Blair introduced and then regretted, the current Labour government are looking to effectively curtail, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Rules currently allow authorities to refuse requests on cost grounds if they believe researching the answer will go over £600 for government or £450 for public bodies (those limits, by the way, have never been increased for inflation one estimate suggests if they had been inflation-linked, the £600 government limit would now be roughly £1,097, and the £450 limit would be over £820).

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Jacob Granger, community editor at Journalism UK, is taking the reins of Off the Record this week. The media insider unpacks how newsrooms are evolving and helps unpack the shift from volume-driven journalism to a model built on audience value, engagement and trust.

Jacob, you’ve told me that journalism is moving from a “volume-based” era to a “value-based” era. What does that shift actually look like in practice inside modern newsrooms? How should comms pros adapt? It means that we are in the midst of changing metrics of success. Newsrooms are fighting hard for each and every user action beyond just simply clicking in and out of an article. It’s not only the page view column that matters and where newsrooms might have longer-term goals.

They are watching their dashboards closely for all sorts of other indicative behaviour metrics to influence commissioning decisions – from user journeys to registration conversions, to more sophisticated combined user metric scores. The FT for example uses a RFV (recency, frequency, volume) score to judge the success of articles. A story isn’t just a story because it’s going to get eyeballs across social and digital. A story might be a story because it will resonate deeply with their most loyal user base or convince elusive users to take an important step in the funnel.

Good editors will be aware of these subtle shifts and attitudes in their readership. Comms folk should not just think about how far stories might travel, but about how they nurture the relationships newsrooms are fostering with their readers.

How much of this shift is driven by audience expectations and how much is driven by business models like subscriptions? A little bit of both, and they’re actually connected if you think about it. We are living in times of information overload and articles that fail to meet audiences needs are simply not going to be given the time of day. And worse, it will discourage readers from coming back in the future.

At the same time, digital advertising is in severe decline in the news business, and so a lot of advertising-driven outlets have to stuff their pages with more ads to keep the business operational – much to readers’ dismay. It’s very hard to focus on these types of sites and the user experience is sub-optimal. The tide is somewhat turning and those outlets – typically local news organisations – are veering into subscription and ad-lite/ad-free models.

However, if you’re going to charge users per month in a cost of living crisis (and when people are used to getting content for free) you need to make sure you’re delivering enough return on value and expectations. Volume still matters because you need to be in a constant state of marketing and growth in terms of subscription numbers, but hanging onto them (especially beyond cheap introductory offers) is the big challenge. And user value is our best shot.

You talked to me about journalism becoming more audience-centric. What does “serving audiences well” mean today? The answer to that question depends on your organisation. Any good audience-centric newsroom will have done the legwork to understand what audiences expect from them and what they come to them for. That won’t be the same for every news organisation – readers of The Mirror have different needs to readers of The Guardian. They could be similar as they’re both national publishers. But they’ll be very different from a local news organisation or a specialist title. If you’re pitching to a media company, do the research. Look at their mission statement, look at sites like ours and others (JournalismUK) if they’ve openly spoken about what sort of content they’re focused on, look at their website or press corner for any curious new launches around new verticals, campaigns, series podcasts and so on. These are quite telling about the direction they’re moving in.

What will successful newsrooms look like in five years? It’s difficult to predict one year in advance let alone five! God knows. I’d like to think that mission-driven journalism will always find a way to survive. It may not resemble what it is today, it may well look a lot more content creator-esque, for example. It will have to be a lot more automated and AI-savvy in my view – there’s no sense being left in the dust by competitors. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as we are getting relevant, robust and responsible reporting in front of people.

You’ve said editors can’t just publish whatever PR sends through. What should comms teams understand about how editorial decision-making may have changed? There’s two things I would say: The user needs model is the number one framework for making commissioning decisions today. A genius called Dmitry Shishkin pioneered it at the BBC, and it has had an enormous ripple effect in the industry. It has since evolved into the 2.0 model and a sports-specific variant, and it basically tells broadly what needs news consumers want met when consuming content.

If you track this over time, it reveals exactly the demand in your readership, and if you can have a savvier and more efficient commissioning model if you produce more of what people want, and less of what they don’t want. The model came with the uncomfortable realisation that most news outlets do too much ‘update me’ content, and leave large parts of their audiences as untapped potential because they’re hungry for content that isn’t served up enough. The bottom line: if an editor is telling you your pitch needs a new approach, new angle or just isn’t a story, trust their instincts and go with their judgement.

Point number two is AI - there’s a lot to say about this but to keep it brief… Newsrooms are increasingly being duped by sources posing as legitimate but are in fact products of generative AI. De Telegraaf in The Netherlands is the latest to fall victim of this, but there’s been lots of examples. Press Gazette have done first-class work exposing this problem. Editors have every right to be very cautious and guarded over what they’re commissioning. Trust towards the media is not a given nowadays. In fact, it’s a luxury that many cannot afford to jeopardise. Be prepared to show your legitimacy and your access to sources.

Quick fire round:

One sentence to describe the future of journalism? In the air… disruptors are everywhere, from AI companies to content creators.

The fastest way for a pitch to get deleted? Being difficult to work with, like meddling with the story or insisting on it being told a certain way.

One thing PR people think editors want that they actually don’t? Earned media… covertly placing a product into a story is serving your interests, not the audience.

Best way to contact you? Connect me with me on LinkedIn. Please feel free to join our JUK community while you are there and our mailing list for updates on our work.

Remember folks, keep this just between us! We’re off the record.

Thank you for reading Off the Record! We want to make our newsletter as helpful as we can, so please get in contact if there’s anything specific you want to see.

We offer media masterclasses for brands/PRs/organisations looking to sharpen their storytelling, improve their relationships with journalists and boost their media coverage. If you’re interested, please email us at info@offtherecordmedia.co.uk

• You can follow Steph Spyro on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X.

• You can follow Off the Record on Instagram and TikTok.

The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

Want to be hitting the media that the leading decision makers are watching and listening to? Then it’s got to be on social media.

That’s very much the message from a new survey of MPs about where they get their news from.

And the move to social media is if anything speeding up. Some 83% of MPs asked by YouGov cited social media as their primary source of news, up from 61% at the start of 2025.

That’s not to say mainstream news outlets are dead - 96% of MPs still visit newspaper websites at least once a week, with 89% visiting daily. And I’ve spoken about my experience as a special adviser in government not that long ago, where coverage in print still had an authority and standing that was appreciated by ministers.

But the direction of travel is clear, according to the survey of 105 MPs.

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Daily newsletters are also popular among the UK’s lawmakers - Politico’s daily London Playbook newsletter was read by 48% of MPs, LabourList got 28% and The Times 23%.

Overall, 70% of MPs subscribe to at least one political newsletter – up from 61% last year.

Podcasts are also on the up. Nearly two-thirds of MPs listen to a podcast every week and nearly a third listen to one every day. The Rest Is Politics led the way, followed by The News Agents, Sky News’s Electoral Dysfunction, the Sky/Politico joint effort Politics at Sam and Anne’s and The New Statesman Podcast.

A few thoughts on the survey. Interestingly, this current parliament elected in 2024 is the youngest ever, with the average age of MPs of 46 when elected (in 2019 it was 51). That might not seem that much, but it may well cross something of a dividing line between younger, native social media followers and an older generation (see below my thoughts on The Times’s subs).

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“Hi Steph, just checking you saw this.”

“Hi Steph, just following up on this press release. Any updates?”

“Hi Steph, think this is one for you?”

I’m on 1,001 mailing lists and receive hundreds of emails every day. Unfortunately, I’m not able to acknowledge them all. I really do try to politely decline a pitch when I know the person on the other end of the email chain but that’s not always possible.

I’d never get any reporting done if I spent the day responding to each and every pitch I receive. The same is true for hundreds of other journalists.

So, this brings me to the art of the follow-up. I don’t mind a chaser email. I try my best to stay on top of my inbox but I definitely miss things. A follow-up can be a helpful nudge to bring something back to the top of my inbox.

Here are some of my thoughts on what to/not to do:

1. Keep follow-ups shorter than the original pitch. One to three sentences maximum is ideal.

2. Change the subject line on a follow-up. If the first subject didn’t land, don’t reuse it. Try a sharper angle or a data point.

3. Time your follow-ups to a journalist’s workflow. Certain times of the day and news cycle should be avoided... like late on Fridays, weekends (unless news-driven) and the height of major breaking news cycles. Instead, try early mornings or early afternoons.

4. Don’t fake urgency. Don’t say something is “time-sensitive” when it isn’t. That’s just a credibility killer.

5. Don’t “just bump” the email. “Just bumping this to the top of your inbox” adds zero value.

So what should you do instead?

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The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

There was an interesting difference of opinion at the Society of Editors Future of News Conference last week between the bosses of two of the most influential and oldest names in journalism.

PA Media editor-in-chief Jack Lefley and his counterpart at Reuters Alessandra Galloni had very different takes on the role AI should play in creating the news. (My very simplistic interpretation is that Lefley is a purist and thinks that humans should do the reporting for everything that his organisation puts out, while Galloni is more liberal on using AI even in frontline reporting so that journalists can be freed up to meet people and get scoops).

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The use of AI with both its fantastic possibilities and difficult drawbacks is an issue we have discussed on Off the Record in the past and undoubtedly will again.

But with two agency giants holding court at the Society of Editors, I wanted today to discuss the state of freelance and agency journalism – and most importantly how comms pros and PRs can use them to their own advantage.

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It gives me great pleasure to hand over this edition of Off the Record to Press Gazette’s UK editor Charlotte Tobitt.

She dives into the forces reshaping journalism right now... from the sharp decline in Google-driven traffic to the growing influence of AI across newsrooms.

As publishers rethink their strategies and double down on original reporting, Charlotte explores what these shifts mean for journalists, comms pros and the future of trusted news.

1. Charlotte, what has been the biggest shift you’ve noticed in terms of how journalism has changed in the last 18 months? The biggest change has been the fact that Google is no longer sending so much search traffic to publishers as a) it changes its algorithm to favour other types of content (eg sharing Youtube and X links in its Discover mobile feed) and b) AI Overviews now provide summaries in response to searches, meaning fewer people feel the need to click through to the original sources.

As a result many publishers have changed the type of content they are creating. For years many were creating SEO-driven and/or evergreen queries to get clicks and help support their core news journalism. But these are exactly the type of queries that are no longer getting as much traction in Google.

Instead, original reporting and analysis that can’t be found elsewhere is key - as is breaking news. These are the things that are harder for Google and LLMs to aggregate. I think this shift is only going to become more noticeable as 2026 continues.

2. Where do you think AI will have the biggest impact on the industry? My biggest concern is around the use of AI in content where it’s not known or disclosed.

To be clear, I don’t think this is a widespread problem right now. But there have certainly been examples that we need to learn from before it’s too late.

Last year a freelance journalist who appears not to be a real person managed to get several articles, which also included fabricated quotes, published in major newsbrands. It’s worrying that these got through to the publication stage before any red flags were used.

Just this week a senior media executive has been suspended after articles he wrote about the industry were found to have contained quotes from named individuals that were, in fact, AI hallucinations. He had used AI to summarise materials and not sufficiently checked the finished product. More widely, it is getting harder and harder to tell at first glance whether AI-created imagery is real or not. Supposed photos from Zendaya and Tom Holland’s wedding were the latest example.

The impact of all of this is that truth is getting more and more important. Journalists are uniquely placed to help people understand what is real and what’s not. So I think the news publishers that flourish will be the ones that take that seriously and don’t do anything to destroy that trust they have built up. To add a second part to this answer, the time savings from AI could make a huge difference to the amount of original journalism we are all able to put out into the world.

Aside from small changes like making it easier to file a story in the CMS with all the required bells and whistles, some publishers are now experimenting with AI agents helping them to write quotidian stories from press releases and other trusted sources. This means the trained journalists they employ can spend more time sniffing out stories that will ultimately add more to society.

With sufficient human checks this could be a net positive. But I do think we need to be cautious about any consumer-facing use of AI - and at least disclose it very clearly.

3. What advice would you give to comms pros looking to adapt to the changing media landscape? Don’t be tempted by shortcuts! Similar to the above, Press Gazette has done a lot of reporting over the past year on fake, AI-generated subject matter ‘experts’ making their way into major news publications. A lot of these have been pushed by bad PR actors.

So I think comms professionals need to be aware that humans are more important than ever at this point in time and they can help journalists decipher what’s real and what’s not if they do their job right. Make it easy for journalists to speak to case studies on the phone, for example. Don’t be offended if they want to do extra verification that they wouldn’t have done a year ago. In fact, why not offer all of these extra steps from the start?

4. What trend in the industry are you really excited about (which might potentially feel long overdue)? I’m thrilled by the fact that it’s now largely agreed that journalism has a value that is worth paying for. When I started at Press Gazette eight years ago the subscription-based publishers were the exception. Now, it’s basically the rule.

Even Reach, Daily Mail and The Sun all have premium paywalls on their websites now. Readers can still access the main news stories for free but they all have their own specialisms that mean they are producing content that no-one else is. If they build a relationship with their core audience, it’s a no-brainer that those people should pay for that.

The other key part of this trend is that the general public are now much more willing to pay. Platforms like Substack and Patreon have helped with this and that’s felt like a trend picking up tremendous momentum over the past couple of years. There’s still some distance to go bringing everyone along on this journey, but I find it really encouraging.

5. Is there anything about old-school journalism you wish could be brought back? There are some amazing court reporters working in the UK. But it’s much harder today for news organisations to gamble on a journalist spending hours at court for potentially no reward. Everything has to have a much surer return on investment. There’s no easy solution but I think more reporting from courts would be really valuable to our understanding of society right now.

Quick fire round:

Your favourite aspect of the media to write about? I love getting stuck into how decisions made by tech platforms in Silicon Valley affect large and small news publishers on this side of the Atlantic.

Something you wish comms pros better understood about your job? As much as we’d love to cover every small news update, we simply can’t. We need to concentrate on the areas that will provide most value to our readers. It’s similar at many news organisations now. But at Press Gazette that generally means what is and isn’t helping journalism pay in this digital age.

What has surprised you about being a journalist? Most people are willing to talk to you.

How can people get in touch with you? Feel free to drop me an email on charlotte.tobitt@pressgazette.co.uk or Linkedin is the best social network to find me on now (RIP Twitter).

Thank you for reading Off the Record! We want to make our newsletter as helpful as we can so please get in touch if there’s anything specific you want to see.

We offer media masterclasses for brands/PRs/organisations looking to sharpen their storytelling, improve their relationships with journalists and boost their media coverage. If you’re interested in finding out more, please email info@offtherecordmedia.co.uk

The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

All news is local. Or at least that’s what local publishers will claim.

And, of course, when there’s a terror attack on a shopping centre, a high-profile court case, an uplifting story of bravery or a key football match, it is indeed local, even if it may interest a wider audience.

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The truth is that although there is genuinely great local journalism being produced – and as we have argued before it’s a part of the media that offers rich pickings for PR and comms – and new innovative players entering local journalism, commercially it remains a struggle in the regions.

In print, the great names of regional journalism like the Manchester Evening News are selling just a few thousand copies a day at best. And online, the fight for eyeballs is as intense as ever.

Part of that is the way Google algorithms can work against smaller publishers. Part of it is also the dominance of the BBC and its growing reach into the local and regional news and general coverage. The BBC’s share of local news page views increased from 20% in 2022 to 34% in 2025, according to Ofcom. One suggestion is that it is partly responsible for a 20% decline in page views to local content for commercial operators.

Reach Plc, publisher of a raft of local papers and websites as well as the Mirror and Express, has argued this week that the BBC uses its “dominant” market position to “distort” the local news ecosystem and has advantages commercial publishers do not have.

In a response to a Government green paper on the future of the BBC Charter, the publisher angrily claimed the BBC’s investment and strong visibility in Google Search due to the broadcaster not running adverts meant it was consistently listed above commercial outlets.

There are arguments both ways. Is it the remit of the BBC to encroach on local publishers, social media and the rest? Should the local press be investing more and making their products better, cheaper and more user friendly?

But there is some good news.

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I love a good Freedom of Information Act request. They’re one of my favourite things to send off to public bodies… and one of my favourite things to receive from the small number of comms pros who use them.

Before I go any further, I should say I’m not advocating for people to use them willy-nilly. Public authorities are stretched for time and resources. But used properly, they can be a fantastic tool for gathering exclusive information and creating strong stories.

FOIs uncover information that isn’t otherwise in the public domain. I’d encourage everyone to check out Relight My FOI, the blog by The Times’ investigations reporter George Greenwood. He specialises in using transparency laws to fight for access to records that can hold the government to account… and he does a fantastic job of it!

Of course, there are limitations to FOIs. Requests can be refused for a number of reasons: the information may already be available, it might exceed cost limits or there could be national security grounds for withholding it. From a journalist’s perspective, it can sometimes feel like there’s a laundry list of reasons for saying no. That’s why the real skill lies in how a request is crafted.

Authorities can often try to prevent the disclosure of information, especially when they know a reporter is on the other end of the request. Although, legally, this shouldn’t make a difference. In reality, it does. The requester is legally obligated to use their full, real name when submitting a request. So, no Elvis Presley or NerdStar3456 works here.

There’s a comms pro who regularly submits FOIs and sends the resulting data my way. I always enjoy hearing from him. The data is fresh (that’s the nature of FOIs) and it always links back to a client of his. I see it as a win-win.

FOIs make great stories because they’re data-driven and exclusive.

It works even better at a time when newsrooms are under pressure. Reporters often don’t have the capacity to submit requests themselves, especially more complex ones to multiple bodies, or to deal with the sometimes lengthy process that follows. This could include asking for an internal review or even escalating the case further if necessary.

The best requests are tightly focused, ask for clearly defined data and avoid anything so broad it risks being rejected on cost grounds. For example, asking an NHS trust for “all emails relating to waiting lists since 2019” would likely involve searching thousands of inboxes and could easily breach the cost threshold.

Officials should get back to you within 20 working days (caveats apply) but it generally means a well-timed request can land fresh data right when you need it.

So, how should a comms pro go about crafting and submitting an FOI request?

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The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

I have a bit of an addiction. I’ve done a count up and I’ll be honest. It’s pretty ugly.

The Economist, The Times, The Telegraph, The Atlantic, The Athletic, Bloomsberg, The Spectator, Unherd, Mailonline. And that’s just the ones I pay for (and don’t even get me started on cable TV).

Subscriptions to a publication are a relatively new phenomenon. In the not too distant past, the only significant subscription model was US local papers, with the traditional paper boy hurling a rolled-up copy of a paper on to a front lawn like in the movies.

Now it is the fundamental game in town – and today I want to give you a deep dive into the world of subs.

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It’s a huge joy to introduce a rising star of the lobby – the Mirror’s political correspondent Sophie Huskisson!

She’s a scoop-getter extraordinaire, a delight at by-election counts and one of the most supportive reporters in Westminster.

Sophie keeps her readers at the heart of every story she writes and every question she asks – and she’s also making waves with her videos on TikTok.

Sophie, paint me a picture of what a day in your life as a lobby journalist is like? I know it’s probably a bit cliché to say but every day really can be totally different in the life of a lobby journalist. Sometimes you’ll get an Operational Note towards the end of the week / or over the weekend for speeches or events early the next week. This can mean a train on a Sunday night ready for a PM speech anywhere in the country. Other weeks are more routine and you’ll follow the parliamentary schedule, lobby briefings with No10 (usually at 11:30), PMQs on Wednesday etc.

Personally, at the Mirror, my days are also determined by what sort of shift I’m on (I do 7am, 10am or 12pm start times). Each day starts with catching up on the news, with London Playbook a vital read. For the early shift, the morning broadcast round is my first priority, whereas a late shift means I’m more focused on looking at urgent questions or statements in the Commons and any late debates or votes that might need covering. I’m then assigned (or pitch stories) for the day, or work on longer-term pieces for the weekend (which usually involves interviewing people and chasing new lines and angles throughout the week).

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For PRs pitching political or policy stories, what makes something genuinely useful for you versus what just adds noise? The main thing that is so useful is being aware of what sort of stories the Mirror (and I personally) cover. While I do cover all politics, I find it really helpful when PRs come to me with stories that touch on the topics I usually cover and am interested in. If it’s something I’ve never written about, it’s still worth pitching but I’m probably less likely to be interested. Likewise, it’s vital to know what the Mirror’s brand is. I’ve been offered some good stories recently on tobacco/vapes policy. They were not only strong stories but it was clear I’d been offered them because it’s an issue the Mirror often reports on.

You’re also smashing it on TikTok. Talk me through the demands of being a multimedia journalist and how can comms pros work with you on videos? Honestly, I’m totally still figuring out the competing demands. The media landscape is shifting more and more towards video but that’s not to say writing copy is not still as vital as ever. If I’m working a Sunday shift by myself and there’s massive international news, then it’s a struggle to do video as well as stories for print and online.

Video is a great opportunity to reach audiences that don’t buy newspapers and never will. I particularly enjoy doing video at events like speeches/press conferences/by-election counts where you can capture “in the room” footage. My advice to PRs is if you’re pitching to someone who usually does video as well as writing, can you offer a video element to your story? E.g. If you have quotes from an MP in your pitch, is there a chance they’d be happy to have a quick chat on camera? Exclusive pictures also help to lift a story or to be used within videos.

Where do you feel the most pressure as a political reporter? Speed, accuracy, access or relationships? Maintaining relationships with sources can definitely be difficult. I’ve found this to be more tricky in the last few months, as the news agenda has been so fast-paced. I have a list of people who I’ve been meaning to touch base with but breaking news means this keeps getting pushed down my priorities list. It’s definitely a hard balance staying on top of life news and finding time in your diary for longer term projects.

Quick fire:

Most overused political phrase right now? “Let me answer that directly,” a minister says, before not answering the question.

A word you never want to hear in a pitch again? “EXCLUSIVE” about an interview with someone who would happily be interviewed every day.

Best place in Westminster to overhear gossip? Strangers bar.

One thing PRs think works but absolutely doesn’t? Putting a quote at the start of the email subject. It’s just distracting.

Best place to contact you? WhatsApp if we know each other but email if it’s a first intro - sophie.huskisson@mirror.co.uk

Remember folks, keep this just between us! We're off the record.

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Thank you for reading Off the Record! We want to make our newsletter as helpful as we can, so please get in contact if there’s anything specific you want to see.

We offer media masterclasses for brands/PRs/organisations looking to sharpen their storytelling, improve their relationships with journalists and boost their media coverage. If you’re interested, please email us at info@offtherecordmedia.co.uk

• Follow Steph Spyro on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter/X and BlueSky.

• Follow Off the Record on Instagram and TikTok.

The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

The march of the podcast is showing no signs of slowing.

Last week Politico announced it had expanded its Playbook audio offering and that podcasts and video was a “big part” of the business’s strategy in 2026 and beyond.

It comes after Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger podcast company - creator of the hugely successful The Rest is… series - hit 250,000 paying subscribers (at an average of £60-a-year). Goalhanger claims it is “the world’s fastest growing media and production company”.

The sector is becoming big business – and a sign of its growth can be seen in Goalhanger’s recent appointments – former Sunday Times journalist Emily Kent Smith to the new role of editorial director, Uber executive Andy Hodgson as chief financial officer and Chloe Straw, formerly chief executive of Audio UK, as director of operations.

Globally, the podcast audience is over 500 million with the average US adult now spending around 50 minutes a day listening to podcasts. Industry revenue topped $40 billion last year. It’s a market every PR should be considering, even if it feels a bit out of the comfort zone.

Last month saw the latest Business Podcast Summit in snowy New York, with participants from across the world attending. Some key takeaways are worth noting.

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One is that audio is nearly always going to need video these days. Because Youtube is such a crucial driver of revenue for podcast publishers, it needs footage to go with the audio.

And increasingly, that means more than just filming the participants. Instead, animations, maps, graphics, physical files all help engage viewers and consequently stay on the podcast longer which means the YouTube algorithms push it to more people.

The influence of YouTube (and its financial potential) is such that the summit heard that publishers are edging away from paywalls. They instead want to reach more people and are keen on shows and presenters who can pull a community together with their podcast.

This should all be good news for the comms industry. And with around a third of UK adults listening to podcasts every month (and the number is growing), engaging with the world of podcasts isn’t really optional now if you want a coherent, wide-ranging media presence.

So, here are a few thoughts on how to get your clients and causes on the digital airwaves.

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Pandemics. Heatwaves. AI in medicine. Climate tipping points. The stakes are high… and so is the bar for landing coverage.

That’s what I’m hearing often from science communicators. Dedicated science desks are shrinking. Reporters are juggling multiple beats. Health and climate stories are politically charged. And every inbox is flooded with “groundbreaking” research that, frankly, isn’t.

For academics and university press officers, landing meaningful coverage in science, environment or health can feel like an uphill battle.

If you work in STEM comms, here are my top tips for landing coverage:

1. Ditch the jargon. Use layman’s terms. If a reporter doesn’t understand what an academic is saying, how will they explain it to their audience? Analogies help. Paint a picture. Be descriptive.

2. Train academics to sound human. Clear will always beat clever. Replace things like “statistically significant association” with “we found a clear link”. “Anthropogenic climate change” could be swapped with “human-driven climate change”.

3. Start with the story, not the research paper. Journalists don’t cover “a new paper in X journal.” They cover something that changes what we know, a real-world consequence, a surprise, or a risk etc. Humanise your research. When I get pitches, I’m thinking: What does this mean for Doris in North Yorkshire?

4. Don’t oversell. Nothing kills trust faster than hype. If it’s early-stage, say so.
   If it’s in mice, say so. If it’s a small study, say so. Honesty builds credibility.

5. Cut the institutional fluff. Journalists don’t care about “world-leading excellence” or “pioneering hubs.”

6. Give journalists oven-ready assets. High-res images. Simple graphics. Short videos.

7. Be available… and fast. Encourage academics to say yes to comment requests, consider writing op-eds, and reply quickly.

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The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

One of the points that Steph and I will stress when we do a media masterclass with someone is the importance of pictures and video.

At its most basic level, it means if you’re putting a release out or trying to get coverage for a client, think about what you can do in terms of images and a few seconds of video. Even if it’s just the chief executive speaking her statement into an iPhone so that it can be offered as a clip to go with your story when it gets uploaded online (tip – ideally, she’s not just sitting behind her desk when she’s filming).

It is interesting how reticent it seems media clients can be in engaging with video. Often, I suspect it is an age thing – senior staff can be a few years older and are a bit more old school. Slightly analogue in a digital world.

And I realise not everyone wants to put themselves forward on screen. It feels higher risk, just slightly more difficult to perfect than a press release or a reactive quote.

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But a look at the media tells you everything you need to know. Every media brand is throwing the kitchen sink at video content. The Economist and its vodcasts, Reach investing in new studios, the Mail and its crime podcasts with often daily shows on big court cases.

The biggest investor of all in video is The Sun. Back in September 2024, editor Victoria Newton said “video has become the focus for everything we do and has been at the heart of our coverage” and they have been true to their word.

The recruitment of new director of video Jon Lloyd (a former content agency boss behind hits such as Come Dine with Me and Four in a Bed) has transformed The Sun into a video giant. Its 25 new shows which go for quality production values and originality, are seeing a billion views a month. Total video views to Sun content were up 140% in 2025 compared to the year before, reaching 9.1 billion. December was its biggest ever month with 1.2 billion views. And the Sun has the biggest YouTube following of any UK newspaper brand, with 6.37 million subscribers on its main channel.

There are a few points worth making here that the comms industry should keep in mind because it will help with what you do in terms of your clients and should also inspire you to be imaginative with video.

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Matthew Drake has spent the past nine years as a senior producer at ITV, earning two BAFTA nominations along the way.

His credits span executive producing Chesapeake Shores for Hallmark Channel and Sweet Magnolias for Netflix. Before moving into television, he was a foreign correspondent and chief reporter in newspapers, giving him perspective on print and broadcast storytelling.

Today, he’s in the Off the Record hot seat, sharing what comms and PR professionals really need to understand about pitching to TV, audience trust and why your story has to look big on screen.

Matthew, how does life as a producer compare to being a reporter on a newspaper? What's the most important thing you'd want a comms or PR person to know about the similarities/differences? You are convincing people to do completely different things. On a newspaper you can grab a couple quotes from somebody on a doorstep and write a reasonable piece. For TV you need a full commitment from the person you are interviewing. Often they are concerned about factors such as how they look or come across, so it can be difficult. There is also the added fear with live TV that they may clam up or say something libelous. Detail and nuance does not always stand out in TV interviews as it does in a newspaper article. The other aspect to consider is credit. You get it in print with a byline. You don't get that when you are wheeling away behind the camera.

You’ve executive produced for Hallmark Channel on Chesapeake Shores and for Netflix on Sweet Magnolias. What are the biggest differences in storytelling and brand expectations between traditional broadcasters and global streamers? Traditional broadcasting is very much a moment in time. You film something, it airs and then like a soap bubble it pops and it is gone. With breakfast TV something you show in one morning can have completely passed its sell-by date come the evening bulletins. The streamers are looking to create legacy and vaults of content so the consumer keeps returning. If you look at the appetite for crime documentaries it shows how people are keen to recycle old stories.

What do television networks understand about audience trust that corporate brands often miss? The good ones understand their viewers. They have a clear idea of what works, in which format and hosted by faces the audience either trust, love or loathe. When they strike the winning formula they tend to stick with it. Change can be a bad thing and once a viewer has changed channels or has started using that time to do something else you have little or no chance of getting them back.

What’s the biggest mistake organisations make when trying to tell their story? By far the biggest mistake is chasing an audience that does not exist. Each generation has different viewing habits. If you are trying to bend your programming to a young audience when core is made up of older people you are guaranteed to fail. Loyalty is key.

What's the best way for comms people to get to know producers? Speak to them. Don't just try to sell. Get to know what works and how it would work on TV. Regulators are tough in TV, so it is not a case of easily being able to plug something.

Quick fire:

Most important things comms pros should know about producers? We tend not to waste time on things that are unlikely to get on air. Speak to us about what you have and then listen to what is said about making it work.

Something comms pros won’t expect about producing? It needs to look big on TV. The bigger the better. Big ideas, big locations and big content.

Best place for people to contact you? MatthewDrake.Media@gmail.com

Remember folks, keep this just between us! We're off the record.

Thank you for reading Off the Record! We want to make our newsletter as helpful as we can, so please get in contact if there’s anything specific you want to see.

We offer media masterclasses for brands/PRs/organisations looking to sharpen their storytelling, improve their relationships with journalists and boost their media coverage. If you’re interested, please email us at info@offtherecordmedia.co.uk

• Follow Steph Spyro on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X and BlueSky.

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The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

The fake expert scandal is gathering pace it seems.

So, apologies for returning to the issue but it feels there is more to say on the topic – not least because it seems the backlash against PR releases featuring AI-generated experts is starting to have consequences.

For the uninitiated, as we discussed a few weeks ago, an investigation by the Press Gazette has uncovered hundreds of fake experts who have given tips on everything from cookery and gardening to skin care, sex and how to win money in online gaming. And all have walked into national and regional websites, largely unchecked.

The Press Gazette has just done more research and found another tranche of fake experts, including perfume expert Esme Gelder, who have all gone mainstream.

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Alex Cassidy, managing director of Neoman Studios, which campaigns against deceptive practices in PR and assisted the Press Gazette on the research, said: “A large part of the recent discourse has rightly focused on how bad actors abusing new technology have become one of the biggest risks to journalism.

“Unfortunately, the UK press remains too easily exploitable. When journalists are forced to source comment under unrealistic deadlines, they are actively disincentivised from checking whether a quoted expert is real. And in that vacuum the fastest PR wins, not necessarily the most credible.

“This environment allows fake, embellished, or unverifiable experts to feature in national coverage without ever having to validate their identity. The fundamental processes on both the press and PR sides need to change, so that expertise is treated as something to be proven not just stated.”

There has been action taken by both the PR and media sectors. For publishers, we have seen stories have been taken down, reporters rebuked for not being thorough enough, company rules changed on sourcing. Reach, publisher of the Express, Mirror, Star and a host of regional titles, is going through its archive searching for fake experts. It has also created its own directory of trusted PR agencies and “won’t hesitate to remove agencies and PRs as well as add them”. Further steps for agencies who have not shown they are doing enough to stop the problem include potentially the wholesale blocking of emails by Reach from those domains.

And Britain’s two leading PR trade bodies, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) have joined forces to campaign for journalists to check sources and the credentials of PR people they deal with. Their members sign up to a code of conduct and adhere to professional standards and both organisations have member registers which can help journalists to identify legitimate sources.

It’s a start but it feels this story has a long way to run.

And as Alastair McCapra, CEO of the CIPR, said: “Every fake source makes the next legitimate pitch harder for the tens of thousands of public relations practitioners who operate honestly and ethically.”

I will reiterate the points about what every good PR should be doing (and you can read more here). Make proper contacts in journalism, be trustworthy, have proper expertise, prove your value, use all the possible ways of showing the authority of your experts (such as through LinkedIn and professional qualifications and recognition).

But it also brings us to a wider debate of what is acceptable use of artificial intelligence.

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If you’d asked me a year ago whether survey fatigue had set in across the UK media industry, I’d have said “yes, polls have lost their power”. For a while, it felt like newsrooms were less enthused by them. During the pandemic, surveys and polls fuelled headlines at a time when in-person access was limited. "How are people finding various aspects of working from home, furlough or social distancing? Well, let’s take a survey to find out!" With no one able to “get into a room”, online polling became the default engine for story generation. And it worked well.

But when the world reopened, it felt like enthusiasm had waned. News editors seemed to tire of formulaic data drops. The bar for polls making the paper rose sharply. It felt as though every conceivable question had already been asked, and answered.

The mood appears to be shifting. I spent a few minutes scanning the national newspapers and browsed the main news sites and it’s clear: the survey is firmly back in favour provided it delivers a sharp insight, a strong human angle or a timely hook.

These are five examples of polls that have featured in national newspapers over the last few days:

• “Last month, a survey suggested that one in 10 Britons would buy weight loss jabs on social media platforms such as TikTok if they could not get a prescription from their doctor and pharmacy.”

• “Almost one in 10 people in the UK said they would buy weight-loss drugs from platforms such as Facebook and TikTok.”

• “Half of Gen Z would rather spend Valentine’s Day with their pet than their partner, a recent UK poll found, with a quarter claiming that their animals show them more affection than their significant other.”

• “Some 32% said their partner’s attempts to make a home-cooked Valentine’s Day meal had ‘left them feeling let down’, a survey of 2,000 people revealed. The poll also found that one in five would rather spend the occasion with friends than their other half.”

• “A survey of more than 2,300 women who have had children from 2022 onwards found one in five had no workplace health and safety risk assessment during their pregnancy, even though employers are legally required to carry one out.”

So, let’s look at why these examples got media coverage. Is there a broader appetite for data again? Are shrinking newsrooms relying more on pre-packaged stats? Is search engine optimisation playing a role?

1. The polls above provoked an emotional reaction. Buying medication via TikTok? That sparks concern. Not feeling able to talk about money? That could feel relatable. Choosing a pet over your partner on Valentine’s Day? That’s amusing and shareable. Failing to carry out legally required pregnancy risk assessments? That’s potentially anger-inducing. Each stat either surprises, worries, amuses or validates the reader. That emotional hook makes it more likely to be clicked, shared and discussed… which matters to editors. Data isn’t enough. A good thing to ask is “what will this make someone feel?”

2. Create a “now vs then” moment. Journalists love shifts in trends. Instead of a one-off poll compare to last year, or before the pandemic or things are now compared to before a policy change.

3. Before you commission a poll, ask the “pub test” question. “Would someone mention this stat in the pub?” If the answer is no, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

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The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

The announcement that the Washington Post is laying off 300 journalists – around a third of its newsroom - has been met with a mix of anger and sadness.

The paper that broke the Watergate scandal (All the President’s Men is one of the great films and inspired me to be a hack) and has always been renowned for its coverage of international affairs, politics and arts is journalistic royalty, a true institution.

There’s obviously controversy over the redundancies and critics have demanded billionaire Jeff Bezos reverse the cuts and invest more to protect “quality journalism”. And British chief exec of the Post, Will Lewis, was forced out after coming under fire over a series of editorial decisions.

But the numbers don’t lie. The Washington Post week day sales have dropped below 100,000. It’s losing around $2million a week. Its decision not to endorse a presidential candidate (i.e. Kamala Harris) saw it lose over 200,000 subscribers.

Like every publisher, the Post is desperately trying to bolster its digital offering. Bringing in new, younger readers and viewers and engaging digitally is all that matters for long term success, goes the mantra. Lewis brought in WP Ventures at the Post, focusing on video, audio, newsletters and social engagement with a plan to focus on “personality-driven” creator-style content.

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That also has been a tricky journey – not least when the face of the paper’s TikTok and Youtube channel Dave Jorgenson quit last summer. Washington Post YouTube traffic has reportedly plunged since, with Jorgenson’s start-up Local News International now getting more views than the Post.

This isn’t an analysis of where the Post has gone wrong. Like every publisher, it’s a new world and everyone is trying to find new ways to make journalism pay its way.

But for the PR and comms teams that engage with the media, it reiterates many of the key lessons that Steph and I emphasise when we do our media masterclass sessions.

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Ladies and gentleman, I am delighted to introduce you all to Sky News’ North of England correspondent Shingi Mararike.

We met almost a decade ago, back when I sat beside him during my first-ever work experience at the Sunday Times. I remember being struck by how effortlessly he seemed to be thriving in a national newsroom despite being a cub reporter and, most importantly, how generous he was with his time. He explained the inner workings of the paper, answered my questions and made a nervous newbie feel like she belonged during her short stint at the title.

I think Shingi’s a role model for journalists young and old… a reminder of what the best of our industry looks like.

So, Shingi, what turns a regional story into something you’d fight for airtime on a national broadcaster? For a story to become more than just a regional one, you’d need to place it in the national picture. So I’d say ask yourselves questions like: Is what you’re pitching the first of its kind in the UK? Do you have stats and data that make it stand out in the national picture? Does it fit with a subject or issue of national interest?

Once you’ve done that, you need to think about the visual elements. At Sky News, our approach to the news is more often than not a video first one, so alongside the team I work with, I’m always thinking about what and how we might film. Can you set something up that is engaging to watch, not just read? Pitching something with no thought about the visual element won’t get you very far in broadcast news, especially when competing with not just national, but global news too.

What happens to a story internally once you pitch it? I work within the North of England news team, which consists of three other reporters as well as a North of England Producer Ella Griffith and our North of England News Editor Steph Oliver. So first of all, I would usually have a conversation with the producer and news editor about the story. If the team thinks it could work well across all the Sky News platforms, we’ll then pitch it to the planning team in London who will then commission the story and maybe even give us a rough date for when it will go out on Sky News platforms. We then go and do the filming and usually the editing of the piece too. We’ll send it in, and it’s then watched back at base. Depending on the story, there can sometimes be tweaks we might need to make, based on editorial and sometimes legal feedback. Once those are done, the pieces run.

For an on-the-day story, this process takes place with much more speed. Rather than the planning team, we’ll be liaising with the newsdesk who are helping co-ordinate our coverage on the day.

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How do you like to be pitched? What stories are you particularly interested in at the moment? I like a concise email. Tell me what the story is, when we can film it, what we’d be filming and why it matters to a national audience. But sending me a pitch on another platform can be eye-catching too. For example, you can pitch to me on LinkedIn, or even on my Instagram, which is linked to a lot of my work too. My handle there is @ShingiMararike.

At the moment, I’m interested in social affairs stories in the north of England, those could be about inequalities or just some of the wider issues the region is facing and what they mean for the rest of the country. However, the beauty of my brief is that as a generalist, I can and will do lots more than that- from arts and culture, to sport. As one of our only reporters still clinging to his 20’s (just about) I also like reporting on the unique challenges this generation of young people are facing.

You’ve been a journalist at both a newspaper and a broadcaster, what’s the biggest difference in terms of how you engage with PRs/comms people? In my current role I spend much more time on the road, in a BIG patch. I am based in Leeds and technically cover an area from the top of Lincolnshire to the Scottish border, often travelling to the North West a lot too.

Whereas when I was a reporter at The Sunday Times, I was in the office more often. On a basic level this means when things are busy, I don’t always have time to read emails. It also means someone pitching me about a story will need to take into account how long it might take for me to get to a case study they might have set up in Liverpool, Newcastle or somewhere even further afield. So much more of my job is about logistics.

Another big difference is the fact my role at Sky sits within more of a team dynamic. There are very few stories I’d do without the help of another person, be that a camera operator or the producers I work with, both in the north and back at base in London. So knowing how the team works and having their contacts, or at least knowing who they are can also be useful to a PR. Arguably much more useful than knowing me!

Quick fire:

One thing you think comms pros should do more of? Send pitches that feel personalised and/or targeted to the reporter if you can.

Any other top tips? Build relationships with reporters, get to know us! Let’s have a call or meet up.

What’s the best way to contact you? LinkedIn on email at shingi.mararike@sky.uk or Instagram

Remember folks, keep this just between us! We're off the record.

Thank you for reading Off the Record! We want to make our newsletter as helpful as we can, so please get in contact if there’s anything specific you want to see.

We offer media masterclasses for brands/PRs/organisations looking to sharpen their storytelling, improve their relationships with journalists and boost their media coverage. If you’re interested, please email us at info@offtherecordmedia.co.uk

• You can follow Steph Spyro on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X and BlueSky.

The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every week we will take a look at the media business from mainstream and ‘legacy’ media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.

Once they were a force to be reckoned with.

The Manchester Evening News (MEN), Liverpool Echo, Western Daily Press, Birmingham Post, Northern Echo – and of course my local as a Leeds lad, the Yorkshire Post. Beasts of the regional press.

It was of course a time where many households would buy two papers – a local and a national. And the circulation figures in the 1960s and 1970s were phenomenal. The Wolverhampton Express and Star, the Birmingham Mail, the MEN and others sold half a million copies each.

Since then they have struggled, hit by the same tailwinds as the national press of falling circulation and rising costs. The Yorkshire Post now has one of the largest regional print circulations of around 8,000 copies a day.

But there is plenty of reason to think that the regional media might just be starting to enjoy a renaissance – and it’s a trend that the comms experts might be able to take advantage of.

Because while print remains challenging for publishers, local media is showing plenty of fight online.

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I was at the Society of Editors awards at the end of last year and among the winners were a string of regional journalists and publications that are making a difference to their communities. Whether it is a local investigations, in depth sport, environmental coverage or good old fashioned local politics, publishers and local TV and radio are producing some of the best journalism in the country.

In difficult times, there are also signs that local media is making it pay as well. The MEN has a monthly audience of 12m people (the biggest regional site in the country) and reckons it reaches more than half the adults in the city at least once a month. It’s not perfect – Google’s algorithms tend to favour global titles over local media on breaking news – but it shows that local people are interested in local news.

Interestingly, Reach’s new subscription model has launched with the MEN and Liverpool Echo rather than one of its national titles. And Newsquest and Iconic (formerly National World) have also introduced paywalls for their best content. The MEN’s editor said early sign-ups have been “ahead of expectations” showing there is an appetite for local content.

And away from the big groups, there is independent media which is flourishing and proving that readers are willing to pay for original, well-researched local stories – including titles such as the Mill in Manchester, the Waltham Forest Echo, the Brixton Blog and ex-Guardian journalist Jim Waterston’s Londoncentric on Substack.

So, what’s it mean for the PR industry?

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