The traditional press release is no longer sufficient.
For many years, a well-crafted Press Release was enough. A strong headline, two quotes, quality photography and targeted distribution was enough to secure coverage. Today, that formula is no longer effective. Newsrooms have evolved, journalist’s expectations have shifted, and the very notion of “news” now operates within a far more dynamic, competitive and saturated environment.
Journalist’s receive hundreds of emails each day, while working within tight time constraints, reduced teams and across multiple platforms. The industrial logic of information has been replaced by a curation-driven approach: what is published must be relevant, credible and, above all, of clear public value. Consequently, the role of agencies extends far beyond disseminating information and now includes the creation of context and the protection of relevance.
Balancing journalistic standards with brand creativity
Reinvention does not mean starting over but building existing foundations and elevating them. The modern press release therefore seeks to balance two complementary dimensions: journalistic standards and brand creativity.
Journalists require robust data, human angles and clarity; brands seek emotion, purpose and visibility. Agencies sit at the intersection of fact and narrative. OberCom reports have long anticipated this shift. The study “Journalism and News Agencies: the challenge of social networks” (2016) identified mounting pressure on newsrooms and the need to “produce more in less time, in a digital environment where news disperses quickly”. Four years later, “News Agencies in Reconversion” (2020) highlighted a clear conclusion: trust and information quality have become decisive value drivers. The more fleeting the news cycle becomes, the more enduring the content must be.
What journalists articulate and what agencies must acknowledge
When asked what they truly expect from agencies, journalists tend to provide straightforward answers: relevance, clarity and a genuine sense of partnership. They are not seeking what has become commonplace in an information- saturated society: poorly informed, repetitive material, promotional content or campaigns disguised as news.
They expect stories that serve their audiences, stories that introduce new information, concrete data and context that supports understanding.
They also expect personalized outreach, proposals tailored to their publication, and complete information packs with sources available and prepared to respond when the story is published. On the contrary, what frustrates them is easy to identify: generic press releases, excessive follow-ups, jargon-heavy texts and a lack of substance. Fundamentally, journalists expect agencies to save them time, not demand more of it.
Communication professionals are therefore expected to act as mediators rather than marketeers, enabling true collaboration. This means delivering well- constructed stories that hold public relevance, supported by data and context, while setting aside self-promotion, which is quickly dismissed.
A new framework for the relationship between journalists and agencies
The relationship between journalists and PR professionals is not always straightforward. A recent example shared by a reporter illustrates this clearly: after arriving late to an event due to heavy traffic, he was denied entry by the agency. The story went viral among journalists and served as a reminder that arrogance is the greatest threat to effective public relations. Media relations are, above all, a discipline of empathy. Understanding journalist’s needs, respecting their time and treating them as partners is needed, rather than being just distribution channels. Ultimately, if agencies do not value this bridge, they risk damaging it.
Journalists remain storytellers
The best journalists, like the best communication professionals, share a common purpose: to tell compelling stories. This is where agency expertise becomes critical. Former journalists or professionals with newsroom experience bring invaluable insight: they know what captures an editor’s attention, what propels a story forward and what makes it publishable. Journalistic experience within agencies is increasingly a competitive advantage.
As Australian firm Sass Communications stated, “former reporters understand the language, timing and needs of newsrooms, and that fluency is a valuable asset”. When agencies speak the same language as journalists, the relationship becomes genuinely collaborative rather than transactional.
The path ahead
In an ecosystem where everyone produces content, the agencies that stand out are those that help the media cut through the noise. More than distributing press releases, agencies must offer complete stories with context, data, accessible sources, strong visuals and a narrative that supports the journalist as well as the client. This requires greater time and investment, but it also fosters stronger relationships, more qualified coverage and a more resilient reputation.
The future of relations between journalists and agencies ultimately depends on three core principles: mutual respect, clarity and relevance. After all, both parties pursue the same objective: tell stories that deserve to be read.
