Marcom A to Z — A for Associated Press

A client recently asked if the Associated Press has gained influence and prominence as a result of shrinking newsroom budgets and staffs at media outlets across the country, and what effect that might have on our PR strategy. Here’s my response.

Like most businesses, media outlets have seen income drop in the last year. With fewer companies funding large advertising programs, and consumers and businesses getting their news via non-traditional sources such as online news sites, blogs, etc., outlets have balanced the budget by cutting staff (along with other fixes: decreasing the size of their print format, providing content only online, closing all together). To keep papers full, they’ve secured additional content from the AP and other syndicated sources.

Undeniably, the AP’s influence has grown. Look at any daily newspaper’s Web site or Yahoo! News — chock full of AP articles. So what effect might this have on your PR strategy?

Targeting the AP to garner a syndicated article makes good sense. Pitching the right AP reporter (appropriate beat, interested in your topic) could result in an article that reaches 100-plus news sources overnight. That’s efficient!

But the AP is not a be all, end all solution. The article’s focus will likely be national, it might not get picked up by the pubs in appropriately targeted DMAs (major metro markets), or your information might be a small part of a broader article.

An equally important strategy: Create targeted pitches for local news outlets that are hungry for good, local content and exclusives. Daily papers are fighting to maintain their strong foothold in an increasingly competitive media marketplace as evidenced by a recent advertorial from John F. Sturm, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America titled, The Reality About Newspapers. And don’t forget the other channels that influence your target audience: blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.

In short, take advantage of efficiencies that the AP’s influence might provide but also remember that, while every effort should be targeted, you need a multi-channel approach these days to move the needle.

Questions: Have you noticed a decrease in local or regional content in your daily paper? Do you think that has driven readers to non-traditional news sources?

This weekly series discusses marcom concepts by the letter — from A to Z. The next post: B for Brainstorming.