Why do interviews when ‘Print is dead’?

Media relations professionals have a tough narrative to overcome when recommending interviews or submitted articles in traditional newspapers and magazines: Subject-matter experts have heard plenty about how these mainstream outlets are foundering. “Print is dead” and these legacy publications don’t know how to do online journalism either. So why bother with media relations, a savvy SME may ask.

The “print is dead” narrative (whether for news or advertising) has been a staple for so long that there are stories dating back nearly a decade to debunk the myth. And they keep coming.

Reports of the decline of print news media have been, well, broadly accurate. The Newspapers Fact Sheet from the Pew Research Center (last updated in July 2019) shows that weekday total circulation (including digital subscriptions) fell 8 percent and Sunday total circulation fell 9 percent from 2017 to 2018. Magazines, as measured by revenues, also have seen a steep decline, from $46 billion for periodical publishers in 2007 to about $28 billion in 2017, even as the number of publications has declined only slightly, from 7,383 in 2008 to 7,218 today.

Decline, however, is not the same as demise. The newspaper audience that remains is still huge: 28.6 million daily readers (print and digital) on weekdays and 30.8 million for Sundays. For magazines, the audience numbers have held steady since 2012. Ad Week reported in May (the story is behind a paywall) that 134 magazines have been launched since 2017.

Choices have proliferated thanks to online access so every option has a smaller piece of the pie. This is similar the long-term trend in TV ratings – the top-rated show in the 1980-81 season had a 34.5 rating while the top-rated show in the 2010-11 season had a 14.5 rating. Yet, businesses still advertise on those shows to reach consumers.

Similarly, subject-matter experts can reach their prospects through newspapers and, especially, highly regarded trade magazines and digital outlets. Narrow and deep outlets centered on a particular profession or industry have survived and even thrived with conferences, online communities, new niche publications and more. Their content and their communities are valuable enough that professionals in those spaces will pay for access to them.

Coverage in the outlets that your prospects and clients rely on is valuable even if circulation figures have declined. Here are four reasons why media fragmentation doesn’t matter and you should make earned media interviews and submitted articles part of a well-rounded strategy based on the PESO model created by Gini Dietrich of Spin Sucks.

Credibility: Strong, objective media outlets that are important to your clients and prospects have something priceless: They offer third-party validation that enhances our subject-matter expert’s credibility.

It’s credibility that we cannot create with other communication channels. We can use the O, P and S in PESO – our owned (e.g., website, white papers, case studies), paid (traditional, search and social advertising) and shared (social) media – to communicate about our expertise and experience. That’s first-party validation. We also can use those channels to offer B2B buyers second-party validation from our clients in the form of testimonials.

Here’s where earned media – the E in PESO – comes in. Being quoted as an expert in a respected industry publication carries additional credibility precisely because the publication is neutral. The reporter and the outlet truly are disinterested – they have no stake or financial motive in quoting a specific subject-matter expert. The only incentive for the outlet to quote an expert is to share an informed, intriguing perspective. That is what makes earned media more credible than paid.

Impact: Credibility is a currency that buys impact. You don’t have to look any farther than some of the most prominent digital outlets themselves to see that traditional media outlets retain power and credibility. The most impactful piece of journalism in healthcare this month has been Kaiser Health News’ reporting on the patient bill collections practices at University of Virginia Health System. KHN, as with many of its big projects, partnered with a traditional tree-killer known as the Washington Post (which, of course, is an online powerhouse as well). The impacts came almost immediately, as the lead reporter on the project, Jay Hancock, details in this thread.

For media relations pros working with subject-matter experts, the audiences you are trying to reach with publicity are more targeted, but the goal is the same: To have an impact on their decision-making process.

Amplification: We rely on the non-earned media channels in our PESO strategy to broaden the audience who will see the story. The outlet’s audience is just the start. Use that story in every distribution channel:

• Post a “media mention” on your website that links to the story and is featured on the expert’s bio page
• Add it to marketing materials and pitch packets, either as a pull quote in a broader piece or a standalone with the full story (after purchasing reprint rights)
• Include it in company email blasts and newsletters to prospects and clients
• Draft a short note that the expert and other leaders can use to share the story via email
• Generate posts for the company’s social media accounts and also for the expert’s accounts, e.g., a short summary post for the expert’s LinkedIn account
• Use your expert’s best quote in the story in ads or promoted social posts

Momentum: Interviews with relevant trade magazines and local/regional newspapers will generate more requests for interviews for your subject-matter expert.

I can speak from personal experience: As a trade media reporter, I often used online research (i.e., Googling) to find sources for stories. While I went well beyond looking at stories from other news outlets to check the credentials of potential expert sources, it was a strong point in favor of an expert to find her quotes in relevant trade magazines and local and regional newspapers. Previous media quotes show the expert is willing to do interviews and can convey complex ideas in short, quotable language that someone who is not immersed in that world day in and day out can understand.

These media mentions offer great proof of the ability of your expert to comment for national trade and general business outlets looking for specific expertise for a story.

Be prepared to show the value of mainstream outlets for subject-matter experts to increase their willingness to put in the time for this valuable work. It’s a critical part of showing how media relations plays a vital role in the context of a balanced, PESO-model approach.

I can help you show the impact that a targeted media relations strategy can have for your healthcare company. Contact me today to get started.