PR News: Upload your expert once. Get discovered repeatedly.
Industry Trends & News, Synapse News
Synapse Expert Database is live!
It’s a simple shift, instead of pitching the same experts again and again, you list them once, and journalists can find them when they’re actively looking.
How it works:
- You create an expert profile (it only takes a few minutes)
- Journalists browse by topic, sector, region and more and shortlist relevant voices
- Your expert can be discovered repeatedly, without extra chasing
What makes it work (and why journalists will actually use it):
- Mandatory info so profiles aren’t empty or vague
- Source links (website / LinkedIn / X) for quick verification
- Trustworthy for journalists, and for you, that means not getting lost amongst the spam in their inbox
Your “do this first” checklist:
- Add your first expert checklist
- Add specific keyword tags (e.g. “UK rental market” not “property”)
- Add a LinkedIn profile so they’re easy to verify
Right, welcome back to The Loop: scroll on for fresh journo requests, media updates, and the PR trends we’re watching this month.
🔥 MUST READ
…because we want you to hear it from the experts themselves
Becks Wiper, EVP, PHA North at The PHA Group, used this week’s Brooklyn Beckham moment as a live case study in modern crisis comms, and what it shows is clear: PR has shifted. Silence can still be a strategy, but social media has become the frontline.
Her key takeaway?
“Once it’s on social, it’s public, permanent and dissected in real time.”
Whether you’re advising brands or individuals, this is a reminder that crisis comms in 2026 started with timing, tone, and knowing who’s actually in control of the message.
👉 Read the full Linkedin post here
🗞️ PR-Y STUFF
Here’s what we think you should see this week:
- Buzzstream: The downsides of media databases and pitching beyond – In this episode, Charlie Russell, the Founder and CEO of Synapse talks about what’s actually changing across the industry right now: how journalists want to be contacted, why relationships matter more than ever, and what tools (and mindsets) are evolving to meet the moment. read more
- Times and Daily Mail top UK news app engagement rankings – Ipsos iris reveals the most popular news apps in the UK, with The Times and Daily Mail leading on user engagement. For PRs, it’s a reminder that owned apps are still powerful channels for reaching loyal readers. read more
- How the media landscape is reshaping PR – Stephen Waddington outlines how shifts in news consumption, trust, and tech are forcing PR to evolve, from volume-led coverage chasing to relevance, authority, and long-term relationship building. read more
- Global publisher Google traffic dropped by a third in 2025 – Google search traffic to publishers declined globally by a third in the year to November, according to new Chartbeat data. Dramatic decline expected to continue throughout 2026. read more
🔎 JOURNO REQUESTS
Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:
Reach plc:
- Looking for expert comments on extending free NHS prescriptions in England
- Looking for expert comments on HMRC late payment rate vs repayment rate
- Looking for expert comments from foodies or chefs to give their opinion. Writing an article on the best pasta brands to buy
- Looking for expert comments, opinions, tips on Premium Bonds holders going into the new yea
- Looking for expert comments on whether BMI is a good health metric
- Looking for expert comments on £100 contactless card limit lifted
Triangle News:
- Looking for money case studies on finances, income, and savings
- Looking for case study stories on any topic but especially money, property and health
Newspage Media:
- Looking for expert comment/opinion on whether investors should consider beyond gold and silver
- Looking for views from investment and gold experts on whether they think gold will surpass $5000 in 2026 and silver $100
The Sun & The Times:
Newsquest:
- Sleep/health expert needed on why changing sleep habits can add on years to life expectancy
- Heating expert needed for article on the heat leaks that could be costing households hundreds every year
- Looking for expert comments on HMRC late payment rate vs repayment rate
- Home/tech expert needed for the 7 items to never place near your WiFi router
- Cleaning expert needed for article on how air fryer liners are the best way to keep air fryers clean
- Cleaning expert needed for article on why bicarb of soda is great for cleaning carpets
- Dog expert needed for article on the correct thing to do when your dog misbehaves
- Looking for UK-based experts to share case studies that show examples of holidaymakers being unable to travel due to a passport or other travel issue
- Looking for expert comments on UK drivers’ call for roundabout change – would it work on UK roads?
- Looking for UK-based experts who can share the best way to signal when reversing to avoid people in cars behind misunderstanding and being involved in an accident
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 February.
🗓️ 1 Feb: GRAMMYs – Taking place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with two new categories added: Best Traditional Country Album and Best Album Cover
🏉 5 Feb: Six Nations Begins: France and Ireland will kick off the 2026 Six Nations Championship under the lights in Paris on Thursday 5th February. The opening round continues on Saturday 7th February, with Italy hosting Scotland in Rome, followed by England facing Wales at Twickenham.
🎬 6 Feb: The Strangers: Chapter 3 movie release – Starring Madelaine Petsch
🏔️ 6 Feb: Olympic Winter Games: takes place in Milano Cortina, ending on February 22nd.
🏏 7 Feb: Men’s Cricket World Cup – The 10th edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
🏈 8 Feb: Super Bowl LX – Held in the San Francisco Bay Area with Bad Bunny headlining the halftime show
🔍 10 Feb: Searches for Valentine’s Day gifts peak, according to Google Trends
📊 12 Feb: UK GDP Report Announcement: Monthly GDP estimate for December 2025 and First quarterly estimate for Q4 2025
📦 13 Feb: Searches for ‘next day delivery’ peak
🎬 13 Feb: Wuthering Heights (2026) – starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi
❤️ 14 Feb: Valentine’s Day – According to MailMetro, 47% of people said Valentine’s Day should celebrate all kinds of love
🔍 15 Feb: Searches for ‘late Valentine’s Day gifts’ begin to rise
📚 16 Feb: Half Term Begins
📈 18 Feb: Lloyds Banking Group plc Annual Report published
✝️ 18 Feb: Ash Wednesday (Lent Begins)
🎬 20 Feb: Splitsville (2025) movie release – Comedy starring Dakota Johnson, Michael Angelo Covino, Adria Arjona, and Kyle Marvin
🎞️ 22 Feb: BAFTAs – 10% of MetroMedia’s audience say a BAFTA win makes them more likely to watch a film
🐲 24 Feb: Lunar New Year: Year of the Horse – People born in a Year of the Horse are said to be energetic, independent and charismatic
🍿 26 Feb: Scream 7, UK movie release date – Horror/Mystery starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown
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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