While workload might seem lighter, journalists are still chasing stories, actually now more than ever! The kind with a long shelf life, a human hook, or expert comments and opinions. If you’ve got something that can land coverage now and carry through summer, this is the time to pitch it.
Welcome back to The Loop, your weekly scroll of live journo requests, sharp PR tips, and the media trends worth keeping an eye on.
Here’s what’s topping the agenda this week…
🔥 MUST READ
…advice we’ve spotted from the experts
“PR is awareness – but awareness without action? That’s just noise in a busy room.”
Head of PR at Tribera, Sheridan Okey, shares five ways to make coverage drive results, from newsjacking with purpose to putting spokespeople front and centre.
🗞️ PR-Y STUFF
Here’s what we’ve read this week so that you don’t have to:
- British Business Bank reports 73% surge in loans – The British Business Bank has seen a sharp year-on-year rise in the number of loans issued, signalling stronger demand for SME finance and potential storytelling opportunities around business growth. read more
- Third City launches GEO service – Comms agency to assist clients with influencing the answers generated by AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. read more
- From byline to botline: how PR shapes AI-generated news – Pagefield explores how PR, social media and online conversations are increasingly influencing what generative AI platforms produce and why understanding that influence matters for comms pros. read more
- When controversial brands meet live music – On an episode of ‘Beyond the Noise’, music PR experts discuss the risks, rewards, and reputation challenges of brand tie-ins with live performances. listen to the episode
- Can better listening fight misinformation? – PR Academy explores how active listening techniques that are already powerful in PR could be key to understanding audiences and countering the spread of social misinformation. read more
🔎 JOURNO REQUESTS
Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:
Reach plc:
Insider Media:
- Looking for all dealmaking-related announcements from B2B press teams in the West Midlands area – legal, accountancy, and corporate finance advisers.
- Seeking dealmaking news from Dorset-based professional services – legal, accountancy, and corporate finance firms.
Newsquest:
- Looking for comments on jobs that don’t require any A-levels.
- Looking for PRs/brands to get in touch with opportunities for beauty advent calendar samples to review.
- Looking for expert comments on whether sunscreen blocks vitamin D.
MailOnline:
LADbible:
Stylist:
- Looking for someone for a Stylist feature on the mistake of lending a friend or family member money.
The i Paper:
- Looking to speak to a student today whose university maintenance loan isn’t enough to cover their costs
- Looking for some expert comments on the car finance scandal compensation scheme about what people can do next.
- Looking to speak to self-employed people/youngsters/a woman or someone who is worried about not having enough for retirement
- Looking to speak to people who started paying into their pension at 18
Freelance:
Metro:
- Looking to chat to renters who signed for a house without viewing it. Did it look anything like the photos at all?
- Looking to speak to wealthy people who lost all their money
- Looking for What I own/rent property column – case studies
- Looking to speak to parents who are in debt about how they talk about money around their kids.
- Looking for expert comments on what British customs leave other Europeans scratching their heads? (queuing, stag dos, the cuisine, etc.)
Daily Mirror / Express / Reach titles:
Or head to the marketplace now to look at requests yourself.
📆 NEXT MONTH’S HOOKS
…just because we don’t want you missing out on stuff.
1 September: New car registrations – any vehicle registered from September 1st, 2025, onwards will display ’75’ as the registration identifier. 52% of Brits consider newsbrands a useful source of motoring info.
2 September: Back to School – According to MailMetro, 5.7 million parents engage with primary or secondary school content.
5 September: The Conjuring: Last Rites UK release date.
6 September: US Open Women’s Final
6 September: The Braemar Gathering, Aberdeenshire – One of the Royal Family’s favourite annual events.
7 September: US Open Men’s Final
7 September: Great North Run, Newcastle – According to Great Run, on average, there are 60,000 runners, making it the world’s biggest half-marathon.
8 September: Sexual Health Week starts
10 September: British Science Festival starts – held in Liverpool, organised by the British Science Association.
12 September: Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale UK release date.
12 September: Heritage Open Days begin – Free access to historic and normally closed buildings across England.
12 September: Jane Austen Festival begins, Bath
13 September: Roald Dahl Day
13 September: Open House Festival begins, London
15 September: Prince Harry’s 40th birthday – Royal-related coverage spikes.
17 September: Searches peak for ‘Freshers Week’ – According to Google Trends, these searches hit their highest point on this topic last year, putting Scotland at 100 (the maximum) and England at 76 search interest points.
18 September: London Fashion Week kicks off
18 September: Bank of England Interest Rate announcement – The Bank will meet to review the rate, opting to either increase, decrease or keep it level.
19 September: Women’s Rugby World Cup Semi-Finals
20 September: Oktoberfest begins
26 September: The Strangers: Chapter 2 UK release date.
27 September: Women’s Rugby World Cup Bronze Final and Final – Takes place at Twickenham Stadium, London
✨ BEFORE YOU GO
Got something great but no time?
Send it over to pitches@synapse.media and we’ll get it in our marketplace for you.
Hey there,
This is the perfect time for fresh angles that can run all season. That means case studies, data insights or real-life stories. Pitch yours to the right journalists now, or email pitches@synapse.media, and we’ll get it in the marketplace for you.
Welcome back to The Loop, your weekly scroll of live journo requests, savvy PR tips and the top media trends you need to know.
Here’s what’s trending this week…
🔥 MUST READ
…advice we’ve spotted from the experts
“Failing to nail your regional angles can seriously limit your campaign results.”
Head of Client Strategy with a background in Digital PR, Laura Smith breaks down how bespoke local stories, unique data, and deep regional outreach drove 29 pieces of coverage and a 126% traffic uplift. 👉Read the full LinkedIn post
🗞️ PR-Y STUFF
Here’s what we’ve read this week so that you don’t have to:
- Astronomer’s PR masterclass debate – A high-profile campaign covered by the BBC has split opinion. Mark Borkowski calls it a “crisis comms masterclass” in his LinkedIn post, but check out the comment section or even Ronke Lawal’s view for a slightly different take on the same story.
- LADbible launches Betches UK to talk with, not to, young women – LADbible’s UK-launched Betches hub invites millennial and Gen Z women to co-create content, as proof that engaging your audience means talking with them, not to them. read more
- When bots write, PR must prove its human value – Generative AI is spawning automated bylines and reshaping newsroom workflows, meaning PR pros need to deliver original data, expert access and real context to stand out. read more
- PR’s AI goldmine sits on a fault line – AI offers PR teams a treasure trove of insights and scale, but missteps on ethics, data bias and privacy could spark a major credibility crisis. read more
- Digital Frontier pauses, 16 staff redundant – Announced it will no longer be publishing content as it takes a “step back” to “reassess” its next steps. read more
- Community leaders can help curb misinformation – New research finds that after recent UK terrorist attacks, local community leaders can help prevent misinformation on social media. read more
🔎 JOURNO REQUESTS
Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:
Insider Media:
- Looking for all dealmaking-related announcements from B2B press teams in the West Midlands area – legal, accountancy, and corporate finance advisers
- Seeking dealmaking news from Dorset-based professional services – legal, accountancy, and corporate finance firms.
MailOnline:
Stylist:
- Looking for someone for a Stylist feature on the mistake of lending a friend or family member money.
The i Paper:
- Keen to speak to people who have 5+ year mortgage fixes ending in the next year and are worried about the higher costs.
- Looking to speak to financial advisers who have seen an increase in the number of enquiries about the pension commencement.
- Looking for someone who is less likely to use a cash ISA if Reeves cut the annual allowance.
- Looking to speak to people who aren’t saving for retirement because they are gonna get an inheritance from their family.
- Looking to speak to self-employed people/youngsters/a woman or someone who is worried about not having enough for retirement
- Looking to speak to people who started paying into their pension at 18
Freelance:
Metro:
- Looking for What I own/rent property column – case studies
- Looking to chat with couples of all ages about how they split their money.
- Looking to speak to parents who are in debt about how they talk about money around their kids.
- Looking for expert comments on what British customs leave other Europeans scratching their heads? (queuing, stag dos, the cuisine, etc.)
Triangle News:
- Looking to speak to young people who have very successful businesses, talking about how they managed it.
- Looking for parents who pay their own parents a salary to look after their preschoolers because it’s cheaper than sending them to nursery.
Daily Mirror / Express / Reach titles:
Or head to the marketplace now to look at requests yourself.
📆 NEXT MONTH’S HOOKS
…just because we don’t want you missing out on stuff.
- 1 August: Edinburgh Fringe Festival begins
- 1 August: ‘The Bad Guys 2’ movie release date for the UK
- 7 August: Bank of England MPC Base Rate decision – It will be reviewed to determine interest rates set by lenders and savings providers
- 8 August: ‘The Naked Gun’ release date – A reboot starring Liam Neeson, directed by Akiva Schaffer
- 9 August: Edinburgh International Book Festival begins – featuring everyone from the rising stars of fiction to Nobel Prize-winners
- 14 August: University Clearing search peak – Searches for ‘Clearing’ spike here. Smart PR timing for universities, fintechs, student accommodation and retail brands aimed at young adults
- 14 August: UK economic announcements – Balance of Trade, Gross Domestic Product, Index of Services and Industrial Production announced.
- 15 August: ‘Materialists’ movie release date for the UK – starring Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans
- 21 August: GCSE Results Day – MailOnline’s social platforms reach 2 in 5 school leavers. BBC’s informed that students will receive their results via the Education Record app this year
- 21 August: Reading & Leeds Festival begins
- 22 August: Women’s Rugby World Cup starts – London, Bristol, Sunderland, Brighton, Northampton, Exeter, Manchester and York are the host cities
- 24 August: Notting Hill Carnival
- 27 August: ‘School shoes’ searches peak – According to MailMetro Media, 46% of parents use payment schemes for back-to-school items
✨ BEFORE YOU GO
Got something great but no time?
Send it over to pitches@synapse.media and we’ll get it in our marketplace for you.
2 July 2025
What does trust for PRs look like in a world where deepfakes, fake experts and AI-generated quotes are landing in journalists’ inboxes? That’s the question we tackled in our latest Spotlight Session – co-hosted with the brilliant team at Freelancing for Journalists, the UK’s leading freelance journalism resource, providing support to 9,000 members via newsletter, podcast and Facebook community.
We brought together three voices with serious skin in the game: award-winning freelance journalist and media consultant Rosie Taylor, co-founder of FFJ and freelance journalists Emma Wilkinson, and Grayling’s Head of Crisis, James Clothier, to unpack how the AI and public relations, how the PR-journalist relationship is evolving and what role AI is playing in reshaping it.
Where things stand right now
The truth is, AI is already baked into our workflows. Journalists are using it for transcription, background research and organising notes. PRs are using it to draft copy and build media lists.
But when it starts generating quotes, recommending the wrong journalists, or dressing up fake experts as real ones? That’s where things unravel.
James put it bluntly: “AI makes misinformation more convincing—and that’s a real threat to PRs and their clients.”
And Rosie agreed. She’s had AI-generated quotes that were clearly fake people about fake circumstances.
That lack of trust has real consequences.
The human factor
All three speakers came back to one thing again and again: human connection is still everything.
Rosie no longer accepts written quotes from new sources without speaking to them first. Emma double-checks every stat and insists on direct contact with experts. Both of them say that if you’re putting someone forward, they need to be real, reachable and relevant.
Rosie shared that she’s already received AI-generated quotes from people who were clearly fake, talking about fake circumstances – like someone claiming to use their Tesco Clubcard from Cyprus. It’s this kind of thing that’s making journalists far more cautious.
They also made it clear that PRs who take shortcuts, whether it’s with AI, recycled pitches or unverified sources, they are burning bridges with the very people they’re trying to influence.
As Rosie put it: “For me, exclusivity is everything. I can’t pitch a story that’s already been sent to every other journalist. Be honest about who else you’ve pitched to.”
Where AI can help
Despite the risks, no one on the panel was anti AI and public relations. Far from it. James said it’s fantastic for breaking the back of a big project. Actually, getting that first messy draft down before a human shapes it into something worth reading. Rosie uses it to help PRs better understand what kind of stories she covers. Emma taps into tools that make her job more efficient, as long as she can still do the critical thinking.
The line is clear: AI can support the work, but it can’t do the work for you. It’s a tool, not a substitute for judgement.
The future isn’t fake, but it is changing
When asked what media will look like in five years, James didn’t sugar-coat it. He sees more PRs relying on their own channels – publishing content directly via socials, YouTube, email. And, he said, we might even see a national newspaper fold. That’s the direction of travel.
Rosie and Emma were a little more hopeful. They believe audiences still crave real journalism, and they’ll always seek out sources they trust. Freelancers, they said, might actually be better placed than big media brands to adapt quickly and maintain that trust, only if they stay human and transparent.
And there it is again: trust. It’s not just a buzzword. It’s the one thing AI can’t replicate.
Final thoughts
This session could’ve gone for hours. It’s clear that PR and journalism are facing shared challenges, but also share the same goal: credible, human, trustworthy communication.
The big takeaway? PRs who want to work well with journalists need to do a few simple things: pitch relevant stories, prep real people, and be upfront about how AI played a part, if it did.
The tech might be new. The rules of trust? Same as they’ve always been.
Follow Synapse for more sessions like this, or drop us a line if you’ve got a story worth telling.
Hey there,
School’s out, but journalists (and lots of you!) aren’t on holiday. So we’re here to help.
It’s silly season so if you’ve got a standout case study, data insight or fresh angle that can run all summer, share it with us. Pop your pitch into the Synapse marketplace or simply send it to us – pitches@synapse.media, and we’ll put it in front of the right journalists.
In the meantime, welcome back to The Loop – your weekly scroll of live journo requests, savvy PR tips, plus our view on the other Synapse tool that’s hitting the front pages at the moment. (ICYMI keep reading for the background. And, just to be clear, we’re not them and we’re not affiliated in any way).
So here’s what’s trending this week…
🔥 MUST READ
…advice we’ve spotted from the experts
“Some of the best coverage I’ve secured has come weeks (or even months) after the initial pitch.”
Shakira Sacks reminds us that consistency, persistence and timing beat one-off wins – build your narrative and let it mature.
🗞️ PR-Y STUFF
Here’s what we’ve read this week so that you don’t have to:
- AI tool that automates ‘expert’ comments on sale – A PR firm is now selling an AI tool called Synapse (not to be confused with us, the OG Synapse) that creates fictional AI-generated experts to respond to journalist requests…unfortunately, you did read that correctly. You can read the original Press Gazette article here, and our CEO and founder’s take here.
- Staying credible amid fake news – In an age of relentless misinformation, PR pros must double down on verification, transparent communication and proactive myth-busting to protect brand trust. read more
- PR firms are missing out on openness – PRWeek’s Beyond the Noise podcast argues that agencies that aren’t embracing openness and clear metrics are leaving trust and clients on the table. listen to the episode
- Don’t let AI steal your narrative – AI can whip up summaries in seconds, but only PR can craft the deeper story that sticks, a double down on original insight and human context. read more
- Omnicom’s PR arm sees 9.3% Q2 revenue drop – Omnicom-owned PR agencies reported a 9.3% decline in Q2 amidst economic instability, a proof that even global networks need agile strategies to weather tough markets. read more
- Editor’s View: Transparency isn’t optional in PR – After we’ve shared the news about how transparent UK agencies are last week, PRWeek’s taking a closer look into parental leave and pay‐gap data. read more
🔎 JOURNO REQUESTS
Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:
Insider Media:
- Looking for all dealmaking-related announcements from B2B press teams in the West Midlands area – legal, accountancy, and corporate finance advisers
- Seeking dealmaking news from Dorset-based professional services – legal, accountancy, and corporate finance firms.
MailOnline:
Stylist:
- Looking for someone for a Stylist feature on the mistake of lending a friend or family member money.
The i Paper:
- Keen to speak to people who have 5+ year mortgage fixes ending in the next year and are worried about the higher costs.
- Looking to speak to financial advisers who have seen an increase in the number of inquiries about the pension commencement.
- Looking for someone who is less likely to use a cash ISA if Reeves cut the annual allowance.
- Looking to speak to people who aren’t saving for retirement because they are gonna get an inheritance from their family.
- Looking to speak to self-employed people/youngsters/a woman or someone who is worried about not having enough for retirement
Freelance:
Metro:
- Looking for What I own/rent property column – case studies
- Looking to chat to couples of all ages about how they split their money.
Triangle News:
- Looking to speak to young people who have very successful businesses, talking about how they managed it.
- Looking for parents who pay their own parents a salary to look after their pre-schoolers because it’s cheaper than sending them to nursery.
Daily Mirror / Express / Reach titles:
Or head to the marketplace now to look at requests yourself.
📆 NEXT MONTH’S HOOKS
…just because we don’t want you missing out on stuff.
- 1 August: Edinburgh Fringe Festival begins
- 1 August: ‘The Bad Guys 2’ movie release date for the UK
- 7 August: Bank of England MPC Base Rate decision – It will be reviewed to determine interest rates set by lenders and savings providers
- 8 August: ‘The Naked Gun’ release date – A reboot starring Liam Neeson, directed by Akiva Schaffer
- 9 August: Edinburgh International Book Festival begins – featuring everyone from the rising stars of fiction to Nobel Prize-winners
- 14 August: University Clearing search peak – Searches for ‘Clearing’ spike here. Smart PR timing for universities, fintechs, student accommodation and retail brands aimed at young adults
- 14 August: UK economic announcements – Balance of Trade, Gross Domestic Product, Index of Services and Industrial Production announced.
- 15 August: ‘Materialists’ movie release date for the UK – starring Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans
- 21 August: GCSE Results Day – MailOnline’s social platforms reach 2 in 5 school leavers. BBC’s informed that students will receive their results via the Education Record app this year
- 21 August: Reading & Leeds Festival begins
- 22 August: Women’s Rugby World Cup starts – London, Bristol, Sunderland, Brighton, Northampton, Exeter, Manchester and York are the host cities
- 24 August: Notting Hill Carnival
- 27 August: ‘School shoes’ searches peak – According to MailMetro Media, 46% of parents use payment schemes for back-to-school items
✨ BEFORE YOU GO
Got something great but no time?
Send it over to pitches@synapse.media and we’ll get it in our marketplace for you.
