Deep dive into Australia’s rapidly changing media and communications landscape with Medianet’s Amrita Sidhu
Amrita Sidhu, Director of Media Intelligence, Medianet and Mediaverse
“One of the really key sentiments that came out [of Medianet’s 2022 Media Landscape Report] was the most important aspect of a pitch…is that the story’s original, newsworthy and relevant to that journalist’s specific field of reporting and audience. We had about 68 per cent say that their biggest pet peeve…was when they were contacted by PRs and the story being pitched wasn’t relevant to their current field or their subject matter of interest.” -Amrita Sidhu, Director of Media Intelligence, Medianet and Mediaverse
From pet peeves to journalists’ preferred days and ways to receive media releases, media trolling and gender pay gaps, this episode offers a deep dive into 2022’s complex media landscape.
Taking us through the insights, based on a survey of almost 1,000 Australian journalists, is Medianet and Mediaverse Director of Media Intelligence Amrita Sidhu.
“I think another really interesting finding, after a couple of years of really pandemic-driven news, is that we had over 50 per cent say that either themselves, individually, or their media organisation have sought more positive or feel-good stories,” Amrita says.
While public relations and communications professionals won’t be surprised Medianet’s report revealed audience relevance was the most widely valued feature of a pitch, there were some surprising and somewhat disappointing findings too, including that 30 per cent of male journalists earn more than $100,000 per annum, compared to just 16 per cent of females and 12 per cent of non-binary journalists.
Also, honouring an embargo is no longer a given within today’s competitive and social media-influenced media world, signalling a continued trend of disruption of media conventions.
“An embargo should be theoretically 100 per cent always abided by,” Amrita says.
“I think some of the pressures around being seen at the forefront of news, the competitive pressures in an industry that has continued to face financial and cost constraints, there's quite a clear delineation there in my mind about what used to happen versus perhaps some of the industry reflections now.”
As someone who specialises in technology, analytics and media insight strategy, Amrita provides a different perspective to journalists and public relations professionals, so this is a must-listen for any practitioner wanting to better understand reporting and metrics.
“An embargo should be theoretically 100 per cent always abided by,” Amrita says.
It’s PR Darlings Co-hosts Greer Quinn and Jo Stone also ask Amrita to discuss some of the newer or lesser-known features Medianet offers including media call-outs, an editorial service and Mediaverse’s qualitative analysis feature – something that is offering incisive room-reads in the lead up to Australia’s Federal Election.
“You could get 4,000 mentions, but what was the sentiment? What was the share of voice? How does that compare with your competitors? Did you in fact get the message through,” explains Amrita.
Following on from the last episode featuring ABC News Breakfast host Lisa Millar, It’s PR Darlings hosts continue the theme of news values during their end-of-segment education session when the duo unlock the news value of “proximity”.
Download Medianet’s 2022 media landscape report.
Undertake It’s PR Darlings/Medianet’s collaborative crisis communications training.
It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.
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We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
