The Inner Circle Round Up: Media News You Can Use April 2019
Spring has sprung, bringing us fresh opportunities for PR pros from text based news platforms to opinion pages and you guessed it- more podcasts! In this month’s Round Up, we continue to see print and digital publishers expand their audience reach with new platforms and formats- which means more ways for PR pros to creatively reach them. We are also happy to report that after devastating news about layoffs at news publications at the start of the year, the trend may be reversing with Buzzfeed hiring again by 208%!
Let us know if you have any new opportunities you’d like to share--comment or tweet at @ScottCircle!
What’s New (and New-ish)
Frame: Text and Calendar Based Magazine
Frame is a digital weekly magazine app that integrates into every type of media you can imagine: emails, texts, calendar, photos, videos and podcasts. It creates a new personalized experience for users with a digital product aiming to redefine the news magazine and bring it into the digital age. One feature called “detours” will allow you to follow story threads of interest, which in traditional journalism may have been cut by an editor.
Inner Circle Take: More and more publishers are expanding their digital offerings and attempting to create a personal intimate experience for their readers. While Frame is in beta mode with many unknowns, for PR pros, there is a lot of potential to get your clients in front of your audiences in multiple personalized formats. For example, the “detours” feature could provide readers with a deeper understanding of your client’s issue, when otherwise, it could be a one line mention.
The Stakes, brought to you by New York City’s WNYC, is a new podcast that takes a critical look at the issues society is facing from climate change to economic inequality to health care. The Stakes asks the questions: how’d we get to this point? And what happens next? Kai Wright, the host will unpack these issues as he speaks to a wide variety of people to find out what it takes to create change.
Inner Circle Take: If your client falls under the social change category and deals with an issue pressing to society, pitching this new podcast could be an opportunity to shed more light on their work.
The Skimm: Acquisition of Text Based Platform
The Skimm has been rapidly expanding their menu of services, with the app, a podcast (see our last roundup here) and now text messaging. The media company has acquired Purple, a text messaging platform that charges subscribers for new updates sent directly to their phone, keeping up with frequency of news and information.
Inner Circle Take: Move over podcasts. Are text based platforms the new way publishers are trying to reach new audiences-- and a new opportunity for PR pros? The Skimm already reaches over 7 million people in their inboxes daily and already have a Q+A texting service for their subscribers, so we will be curious to see how they use their acquisition to expand their growing empire and how we can apply this to our PR efforts.
New to Us
LinkedIn: Branching Out with Original Journalism
LinkedIn is known as a professional social network, job database and platform for user-generated content,but it also houses original journalism content. With a team of 50 editors, content on the platform ranges from daily newsletters that compile business news and professional insights to original content.
Inner Circle Take: While on the surface this may not appear to be a PR opportunity, we think there’s potential. Think creatively-- can you send the article you secured for your client to LinkedIn editors to potentially be included in their daily newsletter? Research the editors and the types of editorial content they produce to see if it is the right fit for your client’s issue. LinkedIn’s reach is large, and if your client is in B2B,it could be a great way to increase your client’s exposure.
Project Syndicate: “The World’s Opinion Page”
Project Syndicate is a media website solely dedicated opinion pieces. They source experts from around the world ranging from prominent political leaders, policymakers, scholars, business leaders, and civic activists. They work with over 500 outlets to syndicate content and provide free translations for a global reach.
Inner Circle Take: Landing an opinion piece in any outlet is getting increasingly difficult, so having another viable option is always welcome to PR pros. If you have a global message, Project Syndicate should be in the running for your client’s next op-ed.