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The world of media and publishing moves at breakneck speed. However, there are some eternal truths that both PR companies and their comms teams should adhere to in their bid to build their clients’ profile. That begins by understanding the changes occurring within newsrooms and acknowledging how journalists work.
Our panel at Advertising Week Europe 2025 titled Crack The Code: Industry Journalists Tell All turned the tables on journalists and explored the editorial decision-making process and what kind of stories and pitches will catch attention. Our Group Director of Content Branwell Johnson moderated the session that featured:
- Gideon Spanier, Editor-in-Chief of Campaign
- William Turvill, Chief Business Correspondent at The Sunday Times
- Maria Iu, Deputy Editor-in-Chief at The Media Leader
The importance of topicality
In answering the question what makes a good story, both in the eyes of journalists, and their readers, Maria Iu argued that you need to acknowledge the trends currently dominating the news cycle. “Our readers come for thought leadership. That’s why we always prioritise covering key topics - such as AI and the future of the agency model - but through the lens of a leader. Also, it’s important to recognise what type of publication that you’re pitching to. We operate in media; as such, don’t try pitching us a creative story.”
Gideon Spanier stressed the importance of going beyond surface level for a pitch. “Campaign provides business critical news and analysis. That should be the litmus test for pitches. Ideally, they should be entertaining - but bottom line, we believe that news should drive analysis.”
Working on a weekend media title, Will Turvill was under no illusions about the stories that resonate with his readership. “It might not automatically be what they’re looking for - but in an ideal world, we’re searching for’ ‘cereal spitters’. In a world saturated by news 24/7, people on a Sunday want to know what’s happening in context of the big story - but also why it’s happening.”
Relevance trumps all
Commenting on the way news teams and editors make their decisions, Maria said there was no set criteria as to what makes the cut but given the small size of the editorial team what to cover was based on team consensus. “And a lot of that comes from gut feeling.”
Gideon explained that Campaign has a 9 am news meeting and this was augmented with insights from traffic figures. “We know what our audience cares about… we follow what our readers click through. After all, there’s no journalist out there that doesn’t want their stories read!”
Cutting through the noise
Journalists’ inboxes are full-to-bursting with pitches and this can make it difficult to stand out from the crowd.
Will’s advice for differentiating your pitch focussed on simplicity. “Make sure it’s anchored to a good story; something that will grab the attention. One thing I would ask before clicking send is ‘Would I share this story with my mum, or my friends in the pub?’ If not, work on making it more interesting.”
Pointing to the abundance of stories filling the void, Gideon said the one thing that journalists really want: access. “We’re living in a world in which LinkedIn provides endless streams of PR. The knock-on effect of this is that you have to elevate the quality of your pitch—our readers expect more than just a press release.
“Don’t be afraid to lift the lid on a story and unpack it. There’s always going to be a hunger for something new and interesting. Sometimes, that comes down to your storytelling capabilities.”
Complex stories continue to be relevant
The number of PRs is rising and the pool of journalists in the world is stretched.
However, Maria made it clear that this doesn’t mean there’s an inability to cover complex stories. “We’re forever trying to look beyond the big brands and appreciate the broader picture. But with so many press releases being sent to us, it’s vital that, as PRs, you are providing a clear top line—particularly for more nuanced and complicated topics, such as adtech.”
Gideon was adamant that there will always be a place for long-form storytelling. “No matter the format, longer pieces will forever be satisfying—provided you pick the right topic, and produce something special. Take podcasts: although many leaders are time-poor and would rather make things more efficient than spend two or three hours recording, this is time well spent. The final outcome will be higher quality.”
Will advocated that research time is vital given the amount of information circulating around the internet. “As a journalist, you have to get incredibly deep into your subject matter and understand it inside-out. Provided it’s beautifully written, readers will appreciate the depth; they want to understand how things work—especially younger audiences.”
A word on AI
With the huge industry focus on AI, what do journalists want to cover about the subject?
For Gideon, the most interesting stories in this space are the ones when things go wrong. “Our job is to interrogate and be sceptical; it’s very hard to trust the technology. That being said, AI has an interesting role in the advertising world. The audience’s expectations when AI is involved is that there’s fantasy involved - but there shouldn’t be any fantasy around journalism. It should hold itself to a higher standard.”
Maria challenged the AI jargon and smokescreens. “We have to be critical of new technology and how it’s being applied - but we also need to embrace the developments that aren’t going away. The problem is that we get a lot of pitches and press releases with the phrase ‘AI-powered’ bolted on. This is too vague. What does this do in a practical sense in relation to your product or solution?”
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Similarly, Will was quick to emphasise the importance of context. “There are some important issues to cover in this department. It’s always fun to cover a scrap, especially around AI and copyright. However, PR people need to stop slapping the AI label onto pitches and stories and expecting the outcome to be sexy.”
Closing thoughts
With the panel drawing to a close, there was just enough time for each journalist to highlight new innovations and partnerships taking place in their respective spheres of interest.
Gideon highlighted The News Alliance’s valuable work. “This is a group of agencies across the media landscape that are demonstrating how and why advertisers can invest more in journalism. Although it’s not always deemed the most ‘safe’ environment, we ensure each story goes through the necessary safety checks. Accountability is everything; journalism has a civic benefit.”
Will’s supportive clarion cry was for everyone to: “Subscribe, comment and spread the word. Don’t believe in everything you read online - but do believe the words of professional journalists that spend hours ensuring things are interesting and fair.”