PR News: We’ve always said the key is getting into journalists’ workflows
Industry Trends & News, PR
Now we’re doing the same for you. Journo requests can now land straight in your Slack: no messy inbox and no missed opportunities. If your team uses Slack, make sure you connect it so you never miss a story worth jumping on.
Welcome back to The Loop – your go-to weekly scroll of live journo requests, smart PR tips, and media moves worth knowing.
Here’s what’s hot this week…
🔥 MUST READ
…advice we’ve spotted from the experts
“Most pitches don’t land because they sound like… pitches.”
Renata Miranda, who’s worked on both sides of the inbox, says the best results come when PRs think beyond headlines: sharing data, fresh angles, and relevance that actually matters, while ditching spray-and-pray emails in favour of real conversations.
🗞️ PR-Y STUFF
Here’s what we think you should see this week:
- Google pours £9bn into UK AI – Google is set to invest £9bn in UK AI, including DeepMind and new infrastructure, as a move that cements Britain’s place in the global AI race and signals major opportunities. read more
- Apple blocks Daily Mail from News app – Apple has removed the Daily Mail from its News app without explanation, sparking accusations of censorship and raising fresh questions about platform power over publishers. read more
- UK sustainability reporting standards move closer – New UK sustainability reporting rules are taking shape, with big implications for how companies communicate ESG performance, meaning PR teams will need to translate complex data into credible, public-facing stories. read more
- Human traffic down, bot traffic up – New data shows bots now make up a growing share of website traffic, while real human visits fall, raising questions for PR and publishers about audience quality and measurement. read more
- Times and Sun pull royal sacking story – The Times and The Sun have quietly removed a viral story about a palace cleaner allegedly fired over a photo, after questions over its authenticity raised concerns about sourcing from TikTok. read more
- Why comms must be seen as strategic in the public sector? – Public sector comms teams are too often treated as tactical support, but a new call argues their role in shaping trust, transparency, and engagement makes them vital at the strategy table. read more
🔎 JOURNO REQUESTS
Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:
Reach plc:
- Looking for nutritionists and other food experts to talk about foods which contain hidden ‘sugar bombs’
- Looking for expert commentary on whether air fryers are better for cooking in comparison to conventional/traditional ovens
- Looking for authors and publishing experts to share their best books of 2025 so far
- Looking for an expert in travel to name their favourite UK beach
- Looking for an expert in the relevant laws to explain the laws/rules on whether you can cut/trim a neighbour’s tree
- Looking for farmers from the Penrith and Solway constituency that are or will be affected by inheritance tax
- Looking for wine expert to give advice on supermarket wine
- Looking for a listicle from a health expert on top 5 sex positions for over 60s
- Looking for a chef to describe what they think is the best way to cook steak
- Looking for the prettiest Christmas Markets to visit in the UK
- Looking for the ten best Christmas markets to explore in Europe
Express:
The Sun:
The i Paper:
Freelance:
- Looking for some specific and little-known tips on how to save money as a single person
- Looking for a quick expert quote about why employees are becoming less eager to travel for business
Triangle News:
Daily Express/Daily Mirror:
- Looking to speak to at least four doctors about Donald Trump’s health and concerns related to it for the future
- Looking for quotes ASAP following Russia’s aerial incursion into Poland
- I want crime or true crime stories preferably with an edge
Newsquest:
- Looking for expert comments from a home/bathroom expert on why opening your bathroom window after a shower could cause mould to grow
- Looking for an expert comment around cutting down/adapting a neighbour’s tree(s) if they block natural light
Or head to the marketplace now to look our requests yourself.
📆 NEXT MONTH’S HOOKS
…because we don’t want you missing out on stuff.
🏰 (TBC): The Traitors UK is back with their new celebrity version – Official launch date TBC
💡 1st: New energy price cap comes into force
🚛 1st: PMI Manufacturing data released
🎬 3rd: ‘The Smashing Machine’ UK release date – the latest A24 film starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt
✨ 3rd: Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift’s new album, scheduled for release
🎤 4th: Katy Perrry kicks off the UK leg of her Lifetimes Tour
🪐 4th: Start of World Space Week
💼 5th: Deadline to register for self-assessment
🏘️ 6th: World Habitat Day – Last year, UK-focused articles by charities like Amnesty International UK and BRITA UK discussed its implications for housing and urban development within the country
🏠 7th: Halifax House Price Index
🎃 14th: Searches for ‘Pumpkin Patches’ typically peak – According to Google Trends, last year the peak was 13–19th of October
🧥 15th: Searches for ‘Winter Fashion’ peak – For five years in a row, this has been a trending topic on Google, according to reports, with the peak occurring between 15-24 October. Content covers winter wardrobes, knitwear, and layering
🎄16th: 3 in 10 Brits start Christmas shopping – According to MailMetro stats, the end of October has officially marked the start of decoration shopping.
💸 16th: Latest UK GDP figures released
👻 17th: ‘Black Phone 2’ horror UK release date – starring Ethan Hawke.
🏎️ 17th: Formula 1 USA Austin Grand Prix kicks off
🍿 17th: ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ UK release date – featuring Jack Nicholson
🧙♀️ 22nd: Searches for ‘Halloween Costume’ peak – According to Google Trends, most people in the UK watched ‘YouTube’ videos for costume inspiration, followed by ‘Image Search’
💸 22nd: UK inflation data released
🦸 24th: MCM Comic Con London starts – The biggest Pop Culture celebration in the UK will take place at ExCel, London.
⏳ 26th: End of British Summer Time
🍂 27th: Autumn Half Term begins
🟢 29th: Deadline for the Government’s new Carbon Budget Delivery Plan
📝 31st: Paper Self-Assessment Deadline (HMRC) – Last day to file a paper return. If missed, switch to online to avoid penalties.
Have a story that’s ready to go?
Head to the marketplace now or simply send it to pitches@synapse.media (or add us to your media list) and we’ll make sure it reaches the right journalists.
Questions about Slack Notifications?
Send us a message at support@synapse.media. We are always happy to help!
FAQs
Registration is simple! Click here to here and then fill out your information. Our team hand verify all of our users within 24 hours. Once your account has been approved, you’ll receive an email inviting you to log in.
If you have any questions or problems, get in touch with support@synapse.media
Our team hand-verify every single one of our users. Synapse is designed for journalists, reporters, editors and those in the media sourcing stories. It’s also designed for PR professionals. We have our own verification process, but if required, we’ll always get in touch with you directly to get some more information on your day-to-day role and to make sure Synapse is right for you.
There are over 3000 amazing people on Synapse; all of whom want to revolutionise the media relations industry. Our PR user base is from across the UK and covers a mix of agency, freelance and in-house professionals. Our journalist user base is similarly broad. There are national publications, trades, regionals and freelancers all using the platform.
No! At the moment, Synapse is completely free to use for all users, so register today and try it out.
We’d love to. But we’re not quite there yet.
Synapse believes that journalists have the right to their own data, and that by giving journalists control over their data, PRs will receive more accurate and timely information that isn’t currently available on any other database.
This means that we need to work with journalists to register them on the platform, rather than adding every UK journalist without permission. This is something our team is working on every single day.
Have a journalist or publication you’d like to see on Synapse? Get in touch and let us know at support@synapse.media
We launched on 21st September 2023 with over 1800 users already pre-registered. Since then we’ve grown to over 3000 users, onboarded national publications and have more news to come. Watch this space!
Our users are so important to us. You literally keep us going each and every day so we’re always here to help. From solving tech issues, demoing the platform to posting pitches and requests on your behalf when you’re just having one of those weeks, we put our users at the heart of everything we do.
If you want to read more about our users’ experiences, you can check out their stories here or get in touch with support@synapse.media
Depending on whether you have a journalist profile or a PR profile, you’ll have access to slightly different AI tools.
For PRs, you can save time by exploring our intelligent recommendations of which journalists to pitch to. Our AI will make recommendations based on proprietary data, saving you hours of research time.
For journalists, our secure AI assistant is there to help you as you write your stories. You’re in control of whether you use the tool and to what extent with options of a bulleted summary through to a full generative article.
Get in touch
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