MEDIA MATTERS: Why media relations is focused on human connection again

By Kristi Eaton

There’s no way around it: AI has fundamentally changed the communications and journalism industries. From AI search to transcription and pitching, some people are increasingly relying on AI to do tasks that were once powered by a human. 

The issue? As I see it, AI is still prone to making mistakes, and with the deluge of AI, people are desperate for human connection more than anything. When we spend our days looking and talking to screens, we crave actual human connection – whether it's at home or work. Plus, the news industry is one of the few industries that seems to be (trying) to create guidelines and ethics around AI use. 

With that in mind, I have been increasingly relying more on human-first interaction in my PR and media relations work. Here are three signs I think media relations is returning to a human-first approach. 

1. AI detection in pitching. More and more platforms used to connect journalists and publicists are offering or requiring pitches to go through AI-detection software before being sent to journalists. Qwoted offers this as do some other platforms. Some platforms are even popping up that are powered by humans and are very selective in who they allow to pitch journalists, keeping the bots of the world at a distance. 

2. More face-to-face pitching. In the past week alone, I’ve had three meetings with journalists through Google Meets to pitch face-to-face. These were mostly the journalists’ idea to meet. This, to me, is a sign that journalists are open to building relationships and connections after years of only wanting to communicate via email. One outlet even announced they are bringing back phone pitching in order for potential journalists to connect with them. 

3. Creating and cultivating relationships over one-off ideas. At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that journalists and publicists are human. (That is, unless you're working for this agency, which uses AI bots to pitch.) What do humans crave? Relationships and connections. From texting a story update to interacting with their Instagram to remembering a detail they shared in a prior conversation, journalists appreciate the details. Yes, AI can do this. But if you’ve built a relationship with a journalist, it’s important to cultivate it in order to keep pitching future stories. 

All that is to say, at ke comms, we use AI for research and transcription only. We believe in a human-first approach including handmade IG carousels and unintentional typos in emails. 

How do you think media relations will become more human-centered? In what ways have you seen a return to human connections? Leave a comment below.