How the PR Climate is changing

Four numbers from this year’s industry research that explain why PR feels harder than it used to.

71% of PR professionals report low response rates from journalists.
61% say the media lists in their sector are shrinking.
Nearly half now pitch more than 20 journalists to land a single campaign. And according to Muck Rack’s 2026 State of Journalism report, 82% of journalists now use AI tools to research stories.

That last one is the one people have not absorbed yet.

If reporters are using AI to find sources for a story, and your brand does not appear in what those tools return, you are off the list before anyone has read your pitch. Which means fewer placements, which means less published material about you, which means you are even less likely to surface next time.

It compounds.

What still works has not changed much.

The same research shows journalists want beat relevance, access to a credible source they can actually interview, and original data. Pre-written quotes came near the bottom of the list.

Which is the part worth sitting with. The tactics have to change. The fundamentals have not moved at all.

Most of the coverage we secure comes from relationships built months before there was anything to pitch.