PR behind the paywall

There has been some debate here lately about the impact of the Times and the Sunday Times for our clients. Not many months ago, that time honoured mantra that the Times was ‘the newspaper of record’ and a CEO interview in the Sunday Times Business section was the ultimate career builder was still trundled out (we do use data as well, but you know….).

But now both are not searchable or accessible I for one am looking eslewhere. Both publications are still powerful institutions, and coverage is valuable, but the ability of a good piece to live online and be searchable is almost of equal value these days. And though the debate still rages here, we are definitely targeting them less. Some may say that is a good thing for them and the important issue is not whether a PR firm targets a publication, but whether or not it has a business model that will allow it to prosper and hire great journalists. It’s difficult to argue with that. But they will have to work harder for those big interviews and exclusives that’s for sure.