The heatwave is here, and plenty of people have one eye on their out-of-office already. But pitching doesn’t need to wait until you’re back at the desk.

Whether you’ve got expert comment, a timely case study, or a story journalists should know about, send it to pitches@synapse.media and we’ll post it on Synapse for you.

Now, onto The Loop – journo requests, PR tips and the news worth knowing this week.

🔥 MUST READ

…because we want you to hear it from the experts themselves

Steph Spyro, founder of Off the Record, has shared a useful guide for PRs sending pictures to journalists:

“Great pictures won’t rescue a weak story, but weak pictures can absolutely hold back a great one.”

Steph explains why strong images matter just as much as strong copy. A great story can lose space, or coverage altogether, when the pictures are low quality, hard to access or missing the details a journalist needs.

What’s the takeaway? Don’t treat your images as an afterthought. Make them part of the pitch from the start.

👉 Read Steph’s full Off the Record edition here

🗞️ PR-Y STUFF

Here’s what we think you should see this week:

  • 2026 is a breaking point, not just an evolution year – Cision’s Inside PR 2026 Report finds that PR professionals name “the changing media landscape” as their top challenge. Attention and influence have shifted fundamentally as media fragmentation, in-platform engagement, the rise of individual voices, and generative AI search all come to a head simultaneously. read more
  • Is AI visibility becoming a C-suite reputation issue? – As more people rely on AI-generated answers rather than clicking through to websites, brands are paying closer attention to what tools like ChatGPT say about them. PRovoke Media reports that this is becoming a reputation issue, not just an SEO one, making trusted coverage and strong journalist relationships more valuable than ever. read more
  • One in three cyber comms pros admit to spreading misleading claims – New Whiteoaks International research found that nearly one in three cyber comms practitioners have been involved in producing messaging they believed was excessive, misleading or unsubstantiated. With terms like “fully protected” still being used, it’s a useful reminder for PRs: strong claims need solid proof behind them. read more
  • Are brands overdoing the AI angle? – The Guardian reports that some PR teams are being pushed to pitch everyday automation as “AI-powered” in a bid to make brands feel more relevant. The problem here is that journalists can spot a stretched angle a mile off. Adding AI to a pitch doesn’t make it newsworthy if the technology isn’t central to the story. read more
  • Podcast: Is PR at a turning point? – On the latest episode of The Digital PR Podcast, Steve and Lou are joined by Sarah Waddington CBE, CEO of the PRCA, to talk about the issues shaping the industry in 2026. They cover fake experts, professional standards, the divide between digital and traditional PR, and the industry’s ongoing diversity and class problem. listen to the episode

🔎 JOURNO REQUESTS

Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:

Reach plc:

Metro:

Daily Mirror:

The Sunday Post:

The i Paper:

Prolific North:

MailOnline:

Newsweek:

National World:

Freelance:

Or head to the marketplace now to look at the full list of requests yourself.

📆 NEXT MONTH’S HOOKS

…because we don’t want you missing out on stuff in June.

📊 2 Jun: Effective interest rates (April 2026) – Covers average interest rates across UK deposit and loan accounts using bank and building society data.

🏦 3 Jun: Bank of England to hear views from people in the West Midlands on the cost of living, as part of its Citizens’ Forum Programme.

🏆 11 Jun: FIFA World Cup starts – For the first time in history, the tournament will be co-hosted by three nations – the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and feature an expanded field of 48 teams.

🏏 12 Jun: Women’s T20 World Cup starts – This tenth edition runs until 5 July, featuring 12 teams across 33 matches.
📊 12 Jun: GDP monthly estimate, UK (April 2026) – Measures the value of goods and services produced in the UK and tracks economic growth.

🎖️ 13 Jun: Trooping the Colour – The Household Division parade runs from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade, followed by an RAF flypast at 1:00pm.

🔍 16 Jun: Searches for Father’s Day gifts peak – According to Google Trends.

🎬 19 Jun: Toy Story 5 – Animation / Adventure / Comedy, starring Keanu Reeves, Tom Hanks, Annie Potts and Wallace Shawn.

☀️ 20 Jun: Summer Solstice – The longest day of the year and the astronomical start of summer.

👨 21 Jun: Father’s Day

🎬 26 Jun: Supergirl – Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi, starring Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts and Jason Momoa.

🎶 27 Jun: BST Hyde Park Festival begins – Runs until 12 July, with headliners including Garth Brooks, Maroon 5, Mumford & Sons, Pitbull and Lewis Capaldi.

🎾 29 Jun: Wimbledon begins – According to MailMetro, 1 in 5 men aged 16-34 buy summer fashion items specifically for sporting events.
📊 29 Jun: Effective interest rates (May 2026) – Covering UK deposit and loan account rates.

📊 30 Jun: GDP quarterly national accounts, UK (Jan-Mar 2026) – Provides a revised and more precise estimate of UK economic growth.

Working on something great?

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.

Trust has become part of the pitching process.

That means strong media relations today are built on more than just a good story. Journalists want clear expertise, credible sources and PRs they know they can rely on and easily verify.

That’s exactly why Synapse exists.

If you’ve got a strong expert comment, case study or story worth covering, send it to pitches@synapse.media, and we’ll help get it in front of the right journalists.

Now, onto The Loop – journo requests, PR tips and the news worth knowing this week.

 

🔥 MUST READ

…because we want you to hear it from the experts themselves

Bekki Ramsay, founder of Belta PR, shared a smart reminder for digital PRs:

“You can convert coverage if you take the time to understand what actually matters to the journalist.”

After landing coverage across 13 Reach titles without links, Bekki followed up by highlighting the affiliate revenue opportunity for the publisher. A few hours later? Every article was updated with links.

What’s the takeaway? Good media relations isn’t just about your KPIs. The best PRs understand the commercial pressures journalists and publishers are under too.

👉 Read Bekki’s full LinkedIn article here

🗞️ PR-Y STUFF

Here’s what we think you should see this week:

  • Google AI Overviews are reshaping publisher traffic – New data shared with Press Gazette shows health content is being hit hardest by Google AI Overviews, with AI-generated summaries replacing article links in search results 72% of the time. read more
  • AI should support PR people, not replace them – A new PRmoment podcast on AI in PR explored where agencies are actually seeing value from AI right now: internal efficiency, automation and scaling repetitive work. But the bigger takeaway was this: the risk is not AI itself. It’s PR becoming low quality in the race for efficiency. The discussion repeatedly came back to one thing: relationships, judgment, creativity and critical thinking are still the real value in PR. listen to the episode
  • Award entries are becoming a storytelling test – PRmoment spoke to judges and agency leaders about what actually makes PR awards entries stand out right now, and apparently, it’s not the biggest budgets or best campaigns. The industry shift is towards clearer narratives, measurable business impact and entries that are easy to understand quickly. read more
  • AI could start collapsing in on itself – Researchers have warned about “model collapse” which is a problem where AI systems become less reliable after repeatedly training on AI-generated content instead of real-world information. The phrase they used is “data cannibalism.” For PR and media, it’s another reminder that original reporting, real expertise and human insight are becoming more valuable as the internet fills with recycled AI content. read more
  • Earned media is shaping the answers with new search engine taking over – A new Muck Rack report analysing more than 25 million AI-cited links across ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini found that 84% of AI recommendations come from earned and third-party sources, including journalism, Wikipedia, Reddit and research. Paid content? Just 0.3%. read the report

🔎 JOURNO REQUESTS

Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:

Reach plc:

Newsquest:

Metro:

Daily Mirror:

The i Paper:

Prolific North:

MailOnline:

Newsweek:

National World:

Freelance:

JamPress:

The Express:

Or head to the marketplace now to look at requests yourself.

📆 NEXT MONTH’S HOOKS

…because we don’t want you missing out on stuff in June.

📊 2 Jun: Effective interest rates (April 2026) – Covers average interest rates across UK deposit and loan accounts using bank and building society data.

🏦 3 Jun: Bank of England to hear views from people in the West Midlands on the cost of living, as part of its Citizens’ Forum Programme.

🏆 11 Jun: FIFA World Cup starts – For the first time in history, the tournament will be co-hosted by three nations – the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and feature an expanded field of 48 teams.

🏏 12 Jun: Women’s T20 World Cup starts – This tenth edition runs until 5 July, featuring 12 teams across 33 matches.
📊 12 Jun: GDP monthly estimate, UK (April 2026) – Measures the value of goods and services produced in the UK and tracks economic growth.

🎖️ 13 Jun: Trooping the Colour – The Household Division parade runs from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade, followed by an RAF flypast at 1:00pm.

🔍 16 Jun: Searches for Father’s Day gifts peak – According to Google Trends.

🎬 19 Jun: Toy Story 5 – Animation / Adventure / Comedy, starring Keanu Reeves, Tom Hanks, Annie Potts and Wallace Shawn.

☀️ 20 Jun: Summer Solstice – The longest day of the year and the astronomical start of summer.

👨 21 Jun: Father’s Day

🎬 26 Jun: Supergirl – Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi, starring Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts and Jason Momoa.

🎶 27 Jun: BST Hyde Park Festival begins – Runs until 12 July, with headliners including Garth Brooks, Maroon 5, Mumford & Sons, Pitbull and Lewis Capaldi.

🎾 29 Jun: Wimbledon begins – According to MailMetro, 1 in 5 men aged 16-34 buy summer fashion items specifically for sporting events.
📊 29 Jun: Effective interest rates (May 2026) – Covering UK deposit and loan account rates.

📊 30 Jun: GDP quarterly national accounts, UK (Jan-Mar 2026) – Provides a revised and more precise estimate of UK economic growth.

Fake experts, AI-generated comments and suspicious sources have made the industry hard to trust.

For you PRs, that means the pitches landing now need to be solid from the start, including trusted expertise, clear angles and stories that stand up, because that’s how you build media relations that last.

Got something strong? Send it to pitches@synapse.media, and we’ll help get it in front of the right journalists.

Right, let’s get onto The Loop – journo requests, PR tips and the news worth your time this week.

🔥 MUST READ

…because we want you to hear it from the experts themselves

At BrightonSEO, Corinne Card, Co-founder of Full Story Media, shared a stark warning:

“Don’t get lost in the slop. There is a real danger of becoming invisible.”

With more than half of new online articles now AI-generated, the brands that blend in risk getting lost completely. PRs now has to work harder to create distinct voices and real expertise that journalists can actually recognise.

👉 Read Corinne’s full deck here

🗞️ PR-Y STUFF

Here’s what we think you should see this week:

  • Strong case studies still win coverage – Steph Spyro’s latest piece in Off The Record is a reminder that case studies do more than support a story. The strongest ones have clear opinions, real-world impact and people who have something to say. For PRs, the takeaway is that statistics tell journalists what’s happening, but case studies show readers why they should care. read more
  • PR’s gender bonus gap is getting worse – New research from The Works Search found that male PR professionals earned 13% more in bonuses than women in 2025, which is more than triple the gap reported the previous year. The report also found the overall salary gap remains stubborn across the industry, particularly in-house. read more
  • PR needs to shape AI, not just react to it – In the latest PR in the Real World podcast, Ben Verinder and Stephen Waddington discuss how AI is changing public relations, from measurement and workflows to strategy and critical thinking. listen to the episode
  • Fake experts aren’t just a media problem. They’re a trust problem – Our blog piece looks at how AI-generated experts and fake sources are making journalist inboxes harder riskier. The bigger issue here is that good PRs are getting lost in the same overcrowded inboxes as bad actors. Trust now needs to be part of the workflow, with verified experts, and credible PR relationships matter more than ever. read more
  • PR agencies are growing, but working harder to stand still – In the latest Beyond the Noise podcast from PRWeek, the team digs into the 2026 Top 150 agency trends, analysing the pressure points shaping the industry right now. The big themes include AI changing workflows and agencies being forced to rethink where growth actually comes from. listen to the episode

🔎 JOURNO REQUESTS

Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:

Reach plc:

Metro:

Daily Mirror:

The i Paper:

Prolific North:

MailOnline:

Newsweek:

National World:

Freelance:

JamPress:

The Express:

Or head to the marketplace now to look at requests yourself.

📆 NEXT MONTH’S HOOKS

…because we don’t want you missing out on stuff in June.

📊 2 Jun: Effective interest rates (April 2026) – Covers average interest rates across UK deposit and loan accounts using bank and building society data.

🏦 3 Jun: Bank of England to hear views from people in the West Midlands on the cost of living, as part of its Citizens’ Forum Programme.

🏆 11 Jun: FIFA World Cup starts – For the first time in history, the tournament will be co-hosted by three nations – the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and feature an expanded field of 48 teams.

🏏 12 Jun: Women’s T20 World Cup starts – This tenth edition runs until 5 July, featuring 12 teams across 33 matches.
📊 12 Jun: GDP monthly estimate, UK (April 2026) – Measures the value of goods and services produced in the UK and tracks economic growth.

🎖️ 13 Jun: Trooping the Colour – The Household Division parade runs from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade, followed by an RAF flypast at 1:00pm.

🔍 16 Jun: Searches for Father’s Day gifts peak – According to Google Trends.

🎬 19 Jun: Toy Story 5 – Animation / Adventure / Comedy, starring Keanu Reeves, Tom Hanks, Annie Potts and Wallace Shawn.

☀️ 20 Jun: Summer Solstice – The longest day of the year and the astronomical start of summer.

👨 21 Jun: Father’s Day

🎬 26 Jun: Supergirl – Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi, starring Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts and Jason Momoa.

🎶 27 Jun: BST Hyde Park Festival begins – Runs until 12 July, with headliners including Garth Brooks, Maroon 5, Mumford & Sons, Pitbull and Lewis Capaldi.

🎾 29 Jun: Wimbledon begins – According to MailMetro, 1 in 5 men aged 16-34 buy summer fashion items specifically for sporting events.
📊 29 Jun: Effective interest rates (May 2026) – Covering UK deposit and loan account rates.

📊 30 Jun: GDP quarterly national accounts, UK (Jan-Mar 2026) – Provides a revised and more precise estimate of UK economic growth.

Have something great?

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.

We’ve just flipped the switch on Synapse’s payment model, and over 3,000 PR professionals are moving from free to paid. This is a huge moment for us, and I would like to give an honest update about how it went.

Dozens of businesses are subscribing. Honestly, I was not sure what to expect. Asking people to pay for a product they’ve been using for free requires some level of trust towards it. The fact that PRs are opening their wallets early tells me two things: we’ve delivered genuine value, and people believe in what we’re trying to do. Through my conversations with PRs, I’ve got genuine feedback from our community, too.

As we have seen, there is something to believe in. The media relations process is broken. There is no efficient mechanism for story pitching and for finding relevant content for journalists. Synapse was created to fix it, and, thanks to early traction, we know that we are not the only ones who think it needs fixing.

What we see as missing in media relations is a trusted third-party marketplace. PRs need professional solutions to deliver professional service. Not workarounds, not outdated databases and spray-and-pray email lists, but modern technology built for how media relations actually needs to work in 2026.

On the other side, journalists should have access to high-quality content they can rely on and which is being delivered exactly where they need it, in their workspace.

The two sides have never been properly connected. Tech can solve that. It can strip out so many of the legacy inefficiencies that have built up over decades and replace them with something that genuinely serves both parties.

Part of what’s driving adoption is trust. Every PR professional listed on Synapse is checked and verified. So is every expert and every spokesperson.

But the media also face incredible pressure to get more done with fewer available resources. Changes in the advertising model and the growing impact of AI are just a couple of challenges to look at, but the main issue lies in the lack of trust in the content sourced from outside.

Journalists need high-quality content delivered to where they work, content that increases their productivity and reduces the risk of making mistakes, not vice versa.

This is exactly what Synapse can provide. Verified information from actual PR professionals. Verified experts and spokespeople. Trusted sources of high-quality content that reach exactly the place it should. All of this in a dedicated space tailored to the media, not an inbox.  It’s why media usage on our platform is growing and why we know we’re building something the industry genuinely needs.

This is something really important for our subscribers. The access they currently have and what we’re building next will put them in a position very few PR businesses have ever been in. We’ll give them a direct, trusted route into the hands of journalists who are actively looking for what they have to offer.


If you’re an agency trying to figure out how this works for your team, our pricing is on the website, but I do want real conversations, too. I want to hear about your challenges and your pressures so I can keep innovating and building products that are genuinely useful and powerful for the people using them. 

Reach out and let’s talk, I’m keen to listen and help where I can.

Charles Russell, CEO and Founder, Synapse