New year resolutions, winter travel and staying warm: How to get UK press coverage in January

Wondering how to cut through the noise in January and get featured in the press? The start of the year is often one of the busiest months for the media as magazines publish feature lists for the upcoming twelve months. It’s also a very busy month on the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service and presents lots of opportunities to get media coverage, with topics that were trending in December continuing to gain traction.

2026 in focus

Journalists were looking to get ahead with their content from the end of last year which is why ‘2026’ finished as the top keyword in December, appearing in just under 15% of all requests. ‘New year’ was also popular, with 5% of the enquiries last month featuring it in their enquiry.

The new year requests included asks for a life coach on setting new year goals, new year finances boost ideas, and a psychologist to offer insight into making a career switch. Enquiries around 2026 tended to be more trends-focused, with journalists looking for wellness in travel trends, beauty launches for early 2026, and expert predictions for home tech in 2026.

Going forward? Both these keywords will remain popular throughout the opening month. ‘2025’ received just over 10% of the total requests in January last year and ‘new year’ exceeded 2%. Enquiries can vary from looking to experts, to review products, to general information and trends but with The Times, British GQ, The Guardian, BBC News, The Grocer, Marie Claire and PA Media all sending requests last month, there will be lots of opportunities to feature in major outlets.

Winter travel and holiday planning

Many journalists will need information on places that people can escape to to avoid the colder weather here in the UK, or the best summer holiday destinations and what might be trending for the year. In December, 6% of requests contained ‘travel’ as a keyword with ‘holiday’ and ‘hotel’ both appearing in 3% of the total enquiries.

Requests last month came from journalists at Travel Weekly, Metro, Prima, Sky News, Travel & Retreat, and Business Traveller. The enquiries varied from looking for a travel expert to talk about Brits opting for destinations closer to home to commentary on the best Greek islands to visit and information on people booking travel for the year just after the Christmas period.

Going forward? Travel will remain a popular category and keyword through January, last year receiving just under 6% of the total requests in the first month of 2025. Broadcast, consumer media, trade titles, and national press outlets all sent enquiries last month and similar are expected again, with most looking for experts and travel agents to offer their opinions.

Heating and energy concerns

The colder winter months mean more concerns around heating and energy bills, and journalists were covering this in December as 3.5% of all requests contained the keyword ‘energy’ and 3% featured ‘heating’. ‘Bills’ also cropped up in 1% and ‘warm’ was in just over 2%.

Enquiries included looking for expert commentary on how many hours a day you should have your heating on, heating habits and winter solstice, and signs you need to get your heating serviced. These came from outlets such as The Sun Online, Ideal Home, Express.co.uk, Homebuilding & Renovating, and LBC.

Going forward? The colder weather is set to last for the next few months and journalists will continue to look for information and experts to share with their readers. January last year, 2% of the total requests were for ‘energy’ and 2% also for heating. The topic will remain in demand, so get expert comments ready to share and you could get press coverage.

Other opportunities for PRs in January and beyond

The second most popular keyword this time last year was ‘Valentine’s’, as it appeared in over 6% of the total requests. With less than a month to go, journalists are looking for products for last-minute gift guides as well as date ideas and Valentine’s related recipes.

Looking even further forward, the Journalist Enquiry Service sees its first enquiries relating to ‘Spring’. In January 2025, just over 2% of the requests contained this keyword. Enquiries on this topic tend to come from more consumer-facing outlets and can vary from home decor ideas to gardening advice and activities to do with the family during half-term. Make sure you have relevant experts and Spring-related information ready to send when the requests come through.

Want to get the most out of the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service? Find out how here.