PR News: Silly season isn’t silly for PRs – it’s an opportunity
PR, Synapse News
Now is the perfect time to land coverage with case studies, expert comments, data insights and real-life angles that can run all summer. Drop your pitch into the Synapse marketplace or send it to pitches@synapse.media and we’ll get it in front of the right journalists.
Now, welcome back to The Loop – your weekly scroll of journo requests, sharp PR tips, and the media moves worth knowing about.
Here’s what’s hot this week…
🔥 MUST READ
…advice we’ve spotted from the experts
“Sometimes, when we’re on a strict deadline…it might cause the rush to send out as many emails to as many journalists as possible and risk damaging the relationships that lead to great PR.”
Freelance Digital PR Saskia Fryer’s advice is simple: stop blasting inboxes. Focus on journalists who actually cover your client’s niche, keep up with what they’re writing and offer relevant, human pitches.
🗞️ PR-Y STUFF
Here’s what we’ve read this week so that you don’t have to:
- Working with and pitching to journalists in 2025 – In this episode of ‘Beyond the Noise’ podcast, journalists share what’s changed in how they want to be approached, and what PRs need to do to cut through in today’s inbox-heavy world. Listen to the episode here.
- Does brandjacking actually work? – Hijacking another brand’s moment can grab attention fast, but does it really build long-term impact? This piece weighs up the risks, rewards, and when brandjacking is worth the gamble. Read more.
- Are net zero and AI on a collision course? – AI could help tackle climate goals, but its vast energy demands risk putting net zero targets further out of reach. PRs need to watch carefully as both topics dominate the agenda. Read more.
- Agencies urged to be honest about AI expertise – An opinion piece by PRWeek on PR firms racing to badge themselves as AI specialists, but industry leaders warn against over-claiming without the skills or strategy to back it up. 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.
Daily Mirror / Express / Reach titles:
Newsquest:
LADbible:
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.
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.)
Or head to the marketplace now to look our 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.
FAQs
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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!
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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.
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