PR News: We are building something new, and your experts could be first in!
Industry Trends & News, PR
We’ve listened to what you lovely PRs (and journalists) actually need. More trust and better results. So we’re building something new to make that happen.
Here’s what we need from you:
Fill out this short form with as much information as you can about any experts you’d like to profile on Synapse (think founders, spokespeople, specialists, or whoever your go-to voices are). That way, when our shiny new feature launches, your work’s already done.
Your experts will be ready to go, and you’ll be first in line when journalists start searching. Sounds great?
🔥 MUST READ
…advice we’ve spotted from the experts
👉 Freelance Digital PR specialist Matt Seabridge has shared his top 14 learning resources from October, and it’s a goldmine for anyone looking to level up their strategy.
From analysing 2,000+ YouGov surveys to mastering visual storytelling and learning how brands can use Substack for PR, it’s packed with practical insights that actually make you better at the job.
👉 Jade Denby, Digital PR Account Director at WPP Media, summed up the current state of Digital PR perfectly: everything’s shifting fast.
Her new DPR Download breaks down the trends every PR should have on their radar right now, from hyper-personalised pitching to AI ethics and the rise of Reddit as a real source of audience insight.
A few standout takeaways:
- Journalists are done with generic pitches.
- AI might speed things up, but using it responsibly is what builds long-term trust.
- Creators are becoming the new media – 40% of under-30s now get news from influencers.
😍 Scroll through her DPR Download summary here
🗞️ PR-Y STUFF
Here’s what we think you should see this week:
- PRs and press releases – the debate continues – According to PRWeek, more than half of PR professionals are already using AI to draft press releases, but opinion is still split on whether that’s progress or a problem. read more
- Starmer urged to back journalism as AI erodes trust – City A.M. reports that industry leaders are calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take action to protect UK journalism, warning that AI-driven misinformation is eroding public trust in media. read more
- The rise of news creators (and what it means for PR) – As audiences move away from traditional outlets and toward trusted individuals, the opportunity for comms teams lies in building relationships with these new “news creators”. The challenge? Balancing reach with credibility, and remembering that not all influence equals authority. read more
- Times journalists caught out by hoaxes – Press Gazette reports that The Times has told its journalists to tighten up verification checks after two embarrassing hoaxes slipped through. One involved a fake source, the other a misleading claim, but both stories have since been pulled. read more
🔎 JOURNO REQUESTS
Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:
Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Irish Star, Birmingham Live, Manchester Evening News:
Reach plc:
Insider Digital:
Newsquest:
- Looking for multiple sources to contribute to a personal finance piece on advice for people contending with an unexpected bill
- Looking for some original expert commentary on how to clean rust from a bathroom towel radiator
- Looking for expert comments on people urged to stop one water bottle habit before it makes them ill
- Looking for expert comment on the ways you can make a radiator heat up faster
Freelance:
- Looking to speak to decluttering experts for a piece on The English Home website.
- Looking to speak to an electrical safety expert who can briefly explain how to use an electric blanket safely
- Looking to speak to an expert on why SMEs need strong leaders
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 in December.
🛍️ 2 Dec: 1 in 3 Brits are interested in Christmas gift guides and tapping into high-intent seasonal search interest.
♿ 3 Dec: International Day for Disability – According to MailMetroMedia, 1 in 2 of the disabled community say they rarely see people like themselves in adverts.
🍿 5 Dec: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’ – UK release date
🎄 6 Dec: Searches for ‘Christmas Trees’ peak – On average, Brits finish their gift shopping on this day.
🛍️ 8 Dec: Green Monday – One of the busiest online shopping days of the year.
🧑🎄 10 Dec: Christmas jumper interest peaks – According to Google Trends, the week between the 10th to the 14th of Dec is when interest onthis topic peaks online.
🎅 11 Dec: Christmas Jumper Day – M&S saw the highest traffic from ‘Christmas jumper’ searches.
💝 12 Dec: 1 in 5 people buy Christmas gifts for themselves – According to PMW, almost a third of Brits spend more on themselves at Christmas than others.
🎥 12 Dec: ‘The Tale of Sylian’ – UK release date
🛒 15 Dec: On average, Brits finish buying food and drink for Christmas on this day
🎁 16 Dec: 179 million article views on Christmas content last year, according to DailyMail – Great time for Festive PR and pitching Christmas content.
🎬 17 Dec: Searches for ‘Christmas movies’ peak, according to Google Trends
🏦 18 Dec: Bank of England final interest rate meeting
🍻 19 Dec: ‘Mad Friday’ – final Friday before Christmas
🎥 19 Dec: ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ UK release date – the first two Avatar films were UK blockbusters.
🛍️ 20 Dec: ‘Super Saturday’ – busiest retail Saturday
❄️ 21 Dec: Winter Solstice – Shortest day of the year — mood-based hooks or content ideas.
🛍️ 26 Dec: Boxing Day – Google Trends indicate searches spike for John Lewis, Dunelm, DFS and IKEA.
🎬 26 Dec: ‘Anaconda’ – UK release date
📈 27 Dec: Searches for ‘holiday sales’ peak
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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