Is Traditional Media Losing Its Mojo? What This Means for Your Strategy

So, there I am, refreshing my inbox for the 47th time today, waiting for a reporter to respond to what I thought was my absolutely brilliant pitch. Nothing. Crickets. The digital equivalent of being left on read by your crush in high school. This is basically the modern PR professional's daily nightmare, right?

THE INCREASINGLY UPHILL BATTLE OF MEDIA RELATIONS

Media relations has always been that weird mix of art, science, and occasionally begging that makes up a huge chunk of PR work. It's like trying to get the cool kids to let you sit at their lunch table, except the cool kids are journalists who get 300 identical emails before breakfast.

The stats don't lie (unlike that guy who said he'd definitely call you back). A recent survey of over 1,000 PR professionals found that 84% say media relations is a major part of their job, yet 72% cite low reporter response rates as the toughest challenge. Meanwhile, 67% struggle with measuring results. It's like we're all collectively banging our heads against the same wall, hoping it'll eventually turn into a door.

Fun fact I've noticed over my years in this business: when a reporter actually wants your story, they respond faster than I attack the free appetizers at a networking event. 

THE MEASUREMENT CONUNDRUM

Counting media placements as your primary success metric is about as scientific as my method for deciding which Netflix show to binge next. But here's the awkward truth: questions about PR's value magically disappear when you're consistently landing those sweet, sweet media mentions. PR professionals are essentially only as good as their last placement, which feels weirdly similar to how Hollywood treats its actors.

While traditional PR metrics like reputation, brand awareness, and sentiment are great, they're also expensive and time-consuming to measure properly. Marketing folks prefer more tangible metrics - registrations, leads, sales, etc. The problem? Those transactions typically involve multiple sales and marketing interactions, most outside PR's control. Trying to claim credit is like trying to figure out which raindrop caused the flood.

PLOT TWIST: MEDIA INFLUENCE IS ACTUALLY DECLINING

Here's where things get interesting (or terrifying, depending on your career choices): the influence of traditional media appears to be waning faster than my enthusiasm for a workout routine by week three.

According to a Pew Research Center poll of 9,000 Americans in April 2025, 49% of respondents believe journalists are losing influence. Another 36% think they're neither gaining nor losing ground, while just 15% see them gaining influence. This survey has a margin of error of +/- 1.3% at 95% confidence, which is more certainty than I have about most of my life decisions.

SO WHAT'S A PR PRO TO DO? HERE ARE MY SLIGHTLY CAFFEINATED THOUGHTS

1. EXPAND YOUR DEFINITION OF "MEDIA"

Remember when blogs were the hot new thing, and we all pretended to understand RSS feeds? The media landscape has fractured like my phone screen after I drop it without a case. Today it's podcasts, Substack, and whatever new platform launched while I was writing this sentence.

While traditional outlets are shrinking faster than a cotton sweater in hot water, new media influencers are multiplying. Many "micro influencers" actually have more sway over their smaller audiences because - shocking concept - they're authentic. And authenticity in 2025 is rarer than a phone battery that lasts all day.

2. GETTING A MEDIA MENTION IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Landing that media placement used to be the end goal, the pinnacle achievement worthy of popping champagne. Now it's just the starting line. What you do with that mention afterward matters just as much as getting it in the first place. There are many ways to amplify your media mentions once you've earned them - and if you're not doing this, you're basically leaving free publicity on the table, which is as tragic as abandoning a half-eaten dessert.

3. BECOME YOUR OWN MEDIA OUTLET

"Every company is a media company" isn't just a clever phrase to put on conference slides. It's actually true. Whether you call it content marketing or brand journalism, the key ingredient that makes this approach work is having a subscribed audience. That's the difference between shouting into the void and actually being heard.

I once took a pitch that had been rejected more times than my first credit card application and turned it into a blog post. That post went viral faster than a cat video and led to coverage from the very publications that had previously rejected it. The irony was not lost on me.

Running your website like a media publication helps you:

• Build relationships through content (without those awkward networking conversations)
• Understand what makes a good story (hint: it rarely involves your product features)
• Experiment with new ideas without risking your reputation
• Get insight from audience analytics
• Extract more value from existing media placements
• Become better at media relations

Publishing good content consistently is about as easy as maintaining the perfect messy bun - it looks effortless but actually requires skill and practice.

4. FOCUS ON BEING BELIEVED, NOT JUST BEING SEEN

In an era where "fake news" is shouted more often than drink orders at a busy bar, being believed is a bigger challenge than being seen. Getting a million impressions means nothing if everyone thinks you're full of it.

How do you build that trust? Be meticulously accurate with facts and figures. Take time to understand nuances. Read everything you can about your industry - like, everything. Knowledge isn't just power - it's the foundation of trust. And in 2025, trust is the currency that matters most.

5. TRADE MEDIA STILL HAS SERIOUS CLOUT

While mainstream national media may be experiencing a trust crisis, trade publications are like those solid friends who don't get involved in drama. They tend to be less polarizing and more focused on specific industries. Sure, their audience might be smaller than national outlets, but when you're targeting a specific audience, that's actually perfect. It's like the difference between shouting in a crowded stadium versus having a conversation at a dinner party - one reaches more people, but the other actually gets your message across.

THE CORE OF PR REMAINS UNCHANGED

The battle for brand doesn't happen in tactics; it happens in the minds of the audience. Tactics come and go faster than fashion trends, but the central principle remains: There's nothing you can say about yourself that has the same influence as someone else saying it about you.

That "As seen on TV" tagline gets to the heart of what makes PR powerful. If PR professionals keep this principle in mind, we can adapt to whatever changes come our way, even if traditional media continues losing its grip on public trust.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go refresh my inbox again. That reporter might have responded in the last 30 seconds.