Media reporting on the News International paywall was never going to be easy to find. Journalists were unlikely to ever be supportive of Murdoch and its no surprise that more journalists aren’t critical. I would be cautious of calling out anyone that was attempting to discover alternative ways to protect my livelihood.
But one thing is for sure. Michael Wolff, Murdoch’s biographer and publisher of Newser was never going to be an fan. In his Newser column on Wednesday Wolff called for Murdoch’s publications to report on one of the biggest stories in media-land.
“Murdoch outlets have no [...] penchant for anything other than the party line. The news from News Corp is always snarlingly good – even when it is very bad.”
Wolff suggests that PRs are starting to pitch their stories to other media outlets rather than News International titles that are beyond the paywall and the reach of Google.
He quotes an unnamed entertainment PR as saying:
“Why would I get my clients to talk to the Times or the Sunday Times if they are behind a paywall? Who can see it.”
Are you prioritising pitches to other titles ahead of The Times and The Sunday Times?
I’m sure some people are pitching elsewhere first, but we have to remember that there is still a demographic that likes to get their news in a print format. If your client is targeting that demographic then, surely, the paywall should not affect your decision. In the future (i.e. when the world is fully populated by us “digital natives”*) such obstacles will be more important.
*I hate the term “digital native” – remind me not to use it again
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stephen Waddington and David Bell, Speed Communications. Speed Communications said: Are PRs’ shunning New International titles and taking their pitches elsewhere? http://goo.gl/fb/KGhVs (@wadds) [...]
Simon nails it perfectly. In Scotland the digital presence of the News International titles is an afterthought (they have no inhouse digital staff at any of the titles. Heck, The Sunday Times hardly has any staff full stop) but as The Scottish Sun is the top selling paper here you would be mad not to try and get coverage in it. The Sunday Times still sells well (for the moment) so it’s the same there.
It depends what you’re after and if you really need that one link that much, you probably have bigger problems.
But this is why more companies should have their own blog. If they give the NI title the scoop they can at least mention the text/reference the copy (and provide the key points) on their site too.