Why We All Need To Be More Sensitive During These Torrid Times

Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash

Journalism was already taking a battering pre-Coronavirus and now, with fewer companies advertising and people not venturing to the shops as frequently, we're seeing the industry face an even graver threat to its future. 

Last week Buzzfeed announced it was shelving its UK and US operations, Conde Nast revealed it was reducing its headcount by 100 while the Guardian said it was closing its dating arm, Guardian Soulmates (although this is largely influenced by changes in the dating market). While there's no doubt some publications focused on cooking, gardening and home are enjoying a rise in sales, overall it's a torrid time for the industry. Here in the UK quite early on we saw City AM close its print edition temporarily and the London Evening Standard reduce its distribution.

Against this backdrop, it's worth remembering that many journalists may have been furloughed, lost their jobs or seen their workload shoot through the roof as they take on their ex colleagues' work.

Many freelance journalists have lost work as a result of the pandemic. Personally a regular Guardian slot of my mine has gone (but will hopefully return) whilst across freelance journalist Facebook groups my peers are quite rightly concerned about the future as commissions drastically fall.

Although there are still plenty of opportunities for PRs and founders, for many freelancers, there are less places to pitch to. It's just something worth noting when you're pitching. It's a point made in my ebook as some journalists complained about getting chased needlessly at the peak of the coronavirus. Recently someone emailed me three times in a week regarding a pitch for a product I wouldn't usually cover. 

There can be upshots to waiting. A piece I pitched the Metro in April was responded to – and commissioned – without prompt, two weeks later.

Oh, and some good news, for those who haven't seen it already. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and newspaper group DMGT have joined forces to give away £3m worth of advertising space.

If you're looking for ways to improve your press coverage, I'm running two webinars this month. If you can't make it, the webinars will still be sent to your inbox afterwards for you to view for the next three months. 

Have a great week,

Susie