Cyber attacks, Father’s Day, and summer travel: How to get UK press coverage in June

Interested in finding out what could catch a journalist’s eye in June? Hundreds of media professionals use the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service each week to send requests for experts, information and more, giving us a good idea of what they will be looking for.

Read on to see the topics and keywords trending in May, and what this could mean for your media outreach this month.

AI and cyber hitting the headlines

‘AI’ has been a popular topic on the Journalist Enquiry Service for a while now, averaging about 3% of requests each month, but in May this was over 4%. It has been joined by ‘cyber’ which received over 2% of enquiries, divided fairly equally between requests around ‘cyber attacks’ and ‘cyber security’, in the wake of the recent cyber attacks on UK retailers.

Journalists from BBC News, The Guardian, IT Pro, New Statesman, and ITV News have all sent requests in the last month to cover one or both of these topics. These have included looking for a tech/software expert for advice for consumers on recent retailer cyber attacks and comments from CTOs and CIOs on how they are balancing AI innovation with security.

Going forward? With yet more retailers losing data to cyber attacks then journalists are likely to continue to need expert opinion on what companies can do to tackle this problem, as well as what the impact might be on consumers. While AI remains a constant topic of discussion in the media, regular enquiries ask for experts on this topic and case studies of how businesses are using the technology in their sector or workplace.

Father’s Day in focus

There are less than two weeks until Father’s Day now and journalists have been looking to get their content sorted early on, with over 2% of enquiries covering this topic. There has also been a 12% increase in the amount of requests compared to May last year.

The majority of the requests have been for gift guide products, including looking for gadgets, food items, luxury experiences, and presents for new dads. Enquiries came from outlets including Dadsnet, Forbes, and Good Homes.

Going forward? While there isn’t long to go, there is still likely to be a flurry of final requests for the best last-minute gifts to get dad. If you have products ready to review then you could get featured in a consumer outlet.

Peak season for travel

It’s probably unsurprising but the Travel category peaks in June – having done so in 2023 and 2024, too. It also performed well in May, increasing by 10% compared to April. ‘Travel’ as a keyword appeared in nearly 6% of the total enquiries last month, with ‘hotels’ and ‘outdoors’ in over 3% and ‘holidays’ just over 2.5%.

Requests varied – solo traveller hotels and venues; innovative products for a feature on summer travel trends; holiday money saving tips; and asks for people who have/or plan to quit the holiday let sector.

Going forward? Travel will continue to perform well as a category and a keyword for the next month or two with journalists needing a wide variety of content – from travel experts to case studies. If you work in this sector, then have responses ready and you could appear in The Times, Conde Nast Traveller, The Independent, or National Geographic Traveller.

Other opportunities for PRs in June and beyond

June is Pride Month and we expect to see requests for LGBTQ+ history experts and information on different events taking place across the country. Last year in June, just over 1% of the requests were looking to cover this.

Men’s Health Week takes place from 9-15 June this year. Around 1% of enquires in June 2024 were looking to cover this topic, with a big focus on mental health. If you have any experts in this field, have comments ready to secure media coverage and help make a difference.

Want to get the most out of the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service? Check out this explainer. 

And download our latest report ‘How to manage your reputation in a world transformed by AI: As industries adapt, what will be the role of PR?’ for how artificial intelligence is already changing PR and comms.