This week, we’ve got fresh journo requests, the PR and media news worth knowing, and a look at what journalists want right now.
Got a story that fits one of this week’s trending sectors? Send it to pitches@synapse.media, and we’ll get it in front of journalists on Synapse.
Plus, your FREE PR Calendar is waiting further down, packed with dates to get you through the rest of 2026.
Right, onto “The Loop” 👇
👀 WHAT JOURNALISTS WANT
Your weekly look at what journalists are asking for on Synapse
TRENDING SECTORS THIS WEEK
- Home & Garden – 36%
- Food & Drink – 18%
- Health – 14%
- Technology – 9%
- Travel – 9%
Something we spotted:
Home & Garden was the clear winner this week, appearing in more than a third of all requests. Journalists were particularly keen on expert commentary, with everything from gardening and roofing to preparing your home for colder weather on the list.
Based on journalist requests posted on Synapse from 7-15 September.
🔥 MUST READ PR TIP
…because the best PR advice comes straight from the people who know
Journalist and media consultant Nick Huber has written 50+ articles for the Financial Times, and one thing stands out when it comes to getting into top-tier media:
“The best way to get featured in the Financial Times, or any top-tier media title? A good case study.”
But having a case study isn’t enough. Nick says many corporate examples aren’t clear or detailed enough, particularly when it comes to showing the actual benefits. Give journalists a real person or business, a clear result and enough detail to understand why it matters. In other words, make the story easy to see.
👉 Read Nick’s full LinkedIn article
🗞️ PR-Y STUFF
The PR and media bits worth knowing this week
- Don’t overcomplicate GEO – PRWeek’s Beyond the Noise podcast looks at how brands and agencies are approaching GEO as AI discovery becomes a bigger part of PR. TUIfly and The Remarkables argue PR teams don’t need to get bogged down in the technical side, but they should take ownership of making brands more visible in AI search. listen to the episode
- Press Gazette launches tool to stop AI fakes before publication – Press Gazette has launched a newsroom verification tool designed to help publishers spot potentially AI-generated or fake content before it goes live. It comes amid growing concern over fabricated journalists and AI content making its way into established publications. read more
- Media trained? It’s not a one-and-done job – Guy Clapperton argues that a spokesperson saying they’ve had media training shouldn’t automatically mean they’re ready for an interview. A forgettable interview might not cause a crisis, but if the message doesn’t land, the PR team can still end up answering for the lack of results. check out the article here
- Digital PR campaigns are starting to look a bit samey – Brave Bison’s Olivia Wiltshire says familiar formats like surveys, indexes and ‘most Googled’ campaigns still work, but repeating them risks becoming forgettable. Her advice is to start with the genuinely interesting stat or insight, then decide what format tells the story best, especially as AI citations become another measure of PR success. read more
- Should your pitches be getting shorter? – In her newsletter Get Featured, journalist Rosie Taylor says shrinking newsrooms, more platforms and endless demands on journalists’ attention mean long pitches are becoming harder to justify. She shares advice to get to the point quickly and cut anything that isn’t earning its place – without losing the detail that makes the story worth covering. read more
🔎 LIVE JOURNO REQUESTS
Here’s what journalists are currently looking for on Synapse:
Mirror Online:
Reach PLC:
Freelance:
- Looking for people who sold their car to save money by using public transport – The i Paper
- Looking for women with ADHD whose symptoms worsen during their menstrual cycle – Living360
- Looking for small businesses with AI examples uncovering fraudulent employee expenses – National
- Looking for European tungsten mining experts, projects and technology providers – MINE Magazine
- Looking for AI startups tackling workplace fraud and employee theft – Freelance
- Living 360 is looking to partner with a brand for ADHD-related competition prizes. Please contact me if interested. Thanks! – Living360
Want to dive deeper? Have a nose through all the live requests on the marketplace
📆 NEXT MONTH’S HOOKS
…a little head start on what’s coming up in October.
💻 7 Oct: Open Source Summit Europe 2026 – It’s where maintainers, technologists, and community leaders come together to share knowledge, collaborate on solutions, and push open source projects forward.
🎬 9 Oct: “Other Mommy” (Universal) – It adapts Josh Malerman’s novel Incidents “Around the House” from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl.
🎬 9 Oct: “The Social Reckoning” (Sony) – A companion piece to the 2010 film “The Social Network”, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin
💻 13 Oct:TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 – at Moscone West in San Francisco, California. The three-day event gathers over 10,000 founders, VCs, and operators.
📈 15 Oct: GDP monthly estimate, UK: August 2026
🎬 16 Oct: “Street Fighter” (Paramount) – Directed by Kitao Sakurai, the film is set in 1993, starring Jason Momoa.
🎬 16 Oct: “Whalefall” (Disney) – Directed by Brian Duffield, the film stars Austin Abrams as a scuba diver who is swallowed by a sperm whale, leaving him with just one hour of oxygen to escape
📊 20 Oct: UK Labour Market: October 2026
📊 21 Oct: Consumer price inflation, UK: Sep 2026
💰 22 Oct: LSE Group Q3 Trading Statement
…and if October isn’t far enough ahead for you… 👇
📆 PR CALENDAR 2026
…for the PRs who like to be three pitches ahead.
There are soooo many reasons to pitch.
From September to December, our free PR Calendar rounds up the dates worth having on your radar, just so you can plan ahead instead of spotting the perfect hook when everyone else is already pitching it.
Got something worth pitching?
Got a story, expert, case study or bit of data journalists should know about?
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.
