Companies are improving the way they share information, even as the credibility of CEOs and PR representatives has fallen, according to MuckRack’s 2022 “The State of Journalism” report.
In the company’s January survey of 2,547 journalists, 44 percent agreed that the way companies shared information was outdated, down from 61 percent in 2021. Reporters who agreed said companies are not tech-savvy and/or don’t validate their information.
At the same time, fewer journalists saw CEOs and company PR representatives as credible sources for their stories (66 percent regarded CEOs credible, compared with 74 percent last year; while 50 percent considered PR pros credible vs. 55 percent in 2021).
Sixty percent of the reporters surveyed described their relationships with PR professionals as “mutually beneficial.” Fewer characterized that relationship as “antagonistic” (16 percent in 2022 vs. 18 percent last year) or as “a necessary evil” (16 percent vs. 17 percent last year).
This year, more journalists called their relationship with PR pros a “partnership,” but that proportion remained low (8 percent in 2022 vs. 6 percent in 2021).
Eighty percent of journalists said that a quarter or more of their stories originate from pitches, down slightly from 81 percent last year. Similar to last year, bad timing was the top reason journalists rejected pitches (24 percent), followed by lack of personalization (22 percent). Numerous journalists said they reject pitches they deem irrelevant, off-topic, not localized or poorly written.
[Illustration credit: 32 pixels]
