{"id":146689,"date":"2024-05-29T16:50:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T15:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=146689"},"modified":"2024-06-06T16:50:26","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T15:50:26","slug":"politics-press-what-media-need-pr-uk-general-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/politics-press-what-media-need-pr-uk-general-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics and the press: What the media needs from PRs in the run up to a General Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a UK General Election just announced, political journalists are readying for a busy time ahead. But what do reporters in this field want from PRs and comms professionals?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a recent panel at the <\/span>Society of Editors Conference<\/span><\/a>, Politico UK editor Jack Blanchard, The Guardian\u2019s political editor Pippa Crerar, The Sun on Sunday\u2019s political editor Kate Ferguson, and Newsquest North regional editor Gavin Foster discussed the current relationship between politics and the press. Read on for the effect this will have on PRs, and what journalists working in the political media want from you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Credible and reliable sources<\/h2>\n

Political journalism, like many sectors of the media, has <\/span>lost audience trust<\/span><\/a> over the last few years. One of the ways journalists are combatting this is with credible and reliable sources. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018We have to do a daily sense check on the sourcing of our facts and make sure that they\u2019re credible,\u2019 said Pippa Crerar at The Guardian. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Whether that\u2019s something we pick up on social media, whether it\u2019s research which has been emailed, or a rumour that has been passed on\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Any information you send to political journalists as a PR must be backed up with strong sources. At The Sun on Sunday, Kate Ferguson is now \u2018double sourcing\u2019 to ensure reliability. This is also vital at trade publications like Politico, as Jack Blanchard explained:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Politico has a very specific audience. It’s read by people who work in politics and people in the media that rely on what we do. We do feel like we have a very high bar to get things right because people will literally be planning their days around our morning email. Fact checking is extremely important to us\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knowing the audience<\/h2>\n

Before contacting journalists, understand the audience they are writing for. Politico, as mentioned above, has a very specific audience – general press releases, or information that is widely available, is unlikely to be used. The time you send is also important – the brand\u2019s <\/span>London Playbook email<\/span><\/a> goes out by 8am, for example. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are \u2018still quite a hardcore of people that are obsessed with politics\u2019, says Jack. But the key to grabbing their interest is in \u2018how we pitch\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also important for both national and regional media – tone. Pippa shared that journalists at The Guardian focus on \u2018politics from the prism of the country-in, rather than Westminster-out\u2019. Content must be accessible for everyone across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

On a regional and local level, Gavin stressed the importance of \u2018cutting through the noise to get to what really matters\u2019. When reaching out to media outlets in this area, be clear what the importance is to readers if you want to get coverage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Differences between the 2019 and 2024 General Elections<\/h2>\n

The General Election coming up in July this year will be very different to the last. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u20182019 was the \u201cBrexit election\u201d, with Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson. Boris was a personality. He sold: Boris sells politics and sells papers,\u2019 said Kate. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Now we have Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer. These are less extreme personalities, less engaging, and in some ways, less polarising as well.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The media will be searching for different angles. Pippa at The Guardian is keen to get away from \u2018just turning up in towns and doing vox pops, but having proper relationships with different parts of the country\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

While young people are \u2018switching off party politics\u2019 according to Pippa, she believes this audience is \u2018incredibly engaged when it comes to issues like climate\u2019. This gives media coverage opportunities to areas adjacent to the usual political coverage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jack said he would \u2018like to see a media company start off trying to make videos as their primary way for delivering serious impartial political thinking\u2019. Social media, especially TikTok, is regularly <\/span>used by the younger demographic<\/span><\/a> as a way to consume news. Media organisations will, as a result, be using these platforms a lot more than they were in 2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

Not sure how to go about contributing for video? Jack stressed the importance of \u2018engaging, interesting, and well-edited\u2019 content. Any press materials must be adaptable and able to be packaged in various formats to suit the needs of the media, and the audiences they engage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to get in touch with political journalists and editors ahead of the election? Connect with them with what they need via <\/b>Vuelio Media Database<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

Interested in reaching out to political stakeholders? Try the <\/b>Vuelio political database<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a UK General Election just announced, political journalists are readying for a busy time ahead. But what do reporters in this field want from PRs and comms professionals?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":146669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7365,7272,3725,3729,7271],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146689"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146689"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147610,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146689\/revisions\/147610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}