2025 Media Relations Trends: The Future of Earned Media Coverage
Uncertainty and volatility are prominent features of the 2025 media landscape. Major shifts in the last year, including reporter layoffs and shrinking newsrooms, have continued, and in some cases, intensified. Local news is disappearing and trust in the media continues to decline, placing stress on the traditional news structures that once dominated the industry. Meanwhile, the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and hyper-personalization is forcing an evolution in how media and public relations professionals approach their work. These changes continue to impact media relations strategies. Engaging reporters who are under-resourced and part of newsrooms that might have experienced significant layoffs means that PR professionals must act with urgency when given tight deadlines, provide exclusive information to differentiate offerings as much as possible in a crowded field, exercise patience, and invest in developing relationships with journalists.
The Evolution of Traditional Media Relations
The impact of AI, digital formats, and social media has led to significant changes in media relations. We have seen the transformation of news as newsrooms shrink while many reporters cultivate their own brands and voices via podcasts. PR professionals need to understand how to engage reporters with various multimedia content and data as consumers increasingly turn to podcasts and TikTok for news. Expectations regarding media coverage need to be adjusted. Public relations specialists need to be more agile, strategic, and digitally savvy. They also need to be well-informed about emerging media channels and understand how to communicate their effectiveness to the organizations that they represent.
Media Relations Strategies Informed by Data Analytics
Also increasing is the extent of which data analytics integration is key to both developing a strategic approach to media relations and refining PR campaigns based on assessing results. Implementing data analytics in the public relations process is advancing the profession from being based on intuition to being insight-driven. PR professionals are increasingly using data-based tools to target smarter and act faster. While relationships are still at the core of successful media relations practices, a data-informed approach is aiding how media relations leaders are telling stories that resonate and proving real value with metrics that matter.
Trend #1: The Evolution of Traditional Media Relations in 2025
To adapt to the evolution of media relations, brand journalism is on the rise. With traditional media in decline and niche trade publications struggling, companies are creating their own content hubs, sometimes as independent ventures. Brands can fund research that struggling media outlets can’t, providing factual, evidence-based content that enhances credibility and authority. The number of people at organizations that are not media outlets with titles like “editor-in-chief” and “editorial director” grew by 32 percent in the last decade according to an Axios report. For example, Ford Motor Company hired an “Internal Communications Editor in Chief,” tech firm Cloudflare hired an “Editor-in-Chief” to define and maintain the editorial vision for the company’s blog, and Verizon hired an “Editor in Chief-Social” to oversee social media content.
Brands are increasingly employing journalistic techniques, such as in-depth research, unbiased reporting, and storytelling to produce content that engages audiences without overt promotional intent. In order to build trust with an audience, it’s necessary to make it clear when you’re educating versus selling. Focus on entertaining instead of advertising. It’s recommended that organizations set editorial standards, borrowing from journalist best practices. Lastly, don’t forget to explore multimedia distribution by leveraging video, podcasts, and email newsletters to disseminate branded content.
Trend #2: AI and Media Relations Transform the Media Relations World
Technology is not only dominating the creation and distribution of content – it’s also revolutionizing processes in media relations. The integration of AI agents in media relations, AI-powered media monitoring, automated pitch personalization, and predictive analytics for media coverage is a gamechanger. AI and advanced metrics are significantly improving assessment methodologies and ROI tracking for media coverage and measurement. Efficiencies gained by automating monitoring, personalization, and compiling and analyzing placements are freeing people to focus on more strategic, fulfilling activities. As a result, public relations practitioners have more time and opportunity to be creative and strategic, driving talent retention. Consider working with tech vendors, agencies, or developing in-house proprietary platforms to embrace these exciting advancements.
Trend #3: Navigating the Local News Crisis
Americans are internet-obsessed, predominantly favoring online publications and social media for news, with only 15% paying for access to local news according to Pew Research. Newspapers continue closing at a rapid clip. In fact, in 2024, 127 newspapers closed in the U.S., leaving nearly 55 million Americans without access to local news, and 200 U.S. counties without a local newspaper according to the Medill State of Local News Report 2024. This trend is driving the expansion of news deserts – U.S. counties without a local news source, which rose from substantially in 2024. Consolidation of media is exacerbating the problem, with the largest 25 newspaper chains owning one-third of all newspapers in the U.S., and newspaper owners increasingly living outside the communities they serve as reported by UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
To manage these shifts, consider pitching bylines since local publications likely have fewer staff members and may welcome contributed articles over interviewing sources and writing their own stories. Also, the state of local news in 2025 is having an impact on regional storytelling, so avoid pitching broadly applicable topics without a strong local angle. Look outside traditional newsrooms and focus on community-focused media relations strategies. For example, establish a presence in a community through engaging with local organizations, such as a local construction network or Chamber of Commerce. Consider alternative channels for local media coverage and where your target audience likely gets their news to meet them where they are. Lastly, lean into local broadcast outreach. According to Nielsen, local news has a higher reach than other news segments – and trust is much higher, too.
Trend #4: Credibility and Authenticity in Media Relations
Distrust in media is high and becoming the norm. In 2024, a Gallup Poll found that 36% of U.S. adults reported that they lack trust in the media. In 2023, Gallup also found that just 32% of Americans reported trusting media like television, newspapers, and radio. Age is playing a role though, with the Pew Research Center reporting that most adults trust the news over social media, except for adults under 30, who are about as likely to trust social media as national news sources. Part of the issue is the proliferation of too many platforms that now brand themselves as news sources and seek to compete by discrediting their competitors, making the entire industry look untrustworthy. Distrust results in news avoidance, as 43% of Americans avoid the news in some form and 8% consistently avoid the news says the University of Oxford’s Digital News Report. Building credibility in the age of misinformation is making it imperative for PR professionals to implement trust-building strategies, highlighting the importance of verified sources and the role of transparency in media coverage.
To manage the situation, revisit your target audience. Your target audience likely trusts national and local media over social media, but the specific outlets they trust may differ based on industry and age. Also, invest in using sites like Media Bias or Fact Check to gauge the credibility of your target publications and prioritize accordingly. Capitalize on trade publications, which can offer deeper-level insights and cultivate greater credibility among business leaders. Finally, explore nontraditional platforms like Substack, which can offer new avenues to reach target audiences without generating the distrust associated with traditional outlets.
The Future of AI Automations in the News Ecosystem
The rise of brand journalism, the integration of AI and automation, shifts in the local news ecosystem, and strategies for building trust are key trends in 2025 in the earned media landscape. It’s crucial for PR professionals to remain vigilant about how the media landscape is changing, adapt quickly, and adopt new tools and technologies. Being informed about journalism shifts, staying ahead of PR trends, and following strategic recommendations will set brands up for media relations success.
To learn more about the future of earned media in 2025 and beyond, visit https://www.theblissgrp.com/capabilities/public-relations/.
