A live June 26 panel discussion featuring journalists and PR professionals discussed portions of Muck Rack’s 2025 State of Journalism Report. Based on insights from more than 1,500 journalists, the data in the 2025 report described what’s really shaping the media landscape, and what that means for public relations professionals.
Moderator Greg Galant, co-founder & CEO of Muck Rack, facilitated the discussion among panelists Courtney Boland, who works as Director of Communications for The Economist; Emilia David, Senior AI Reporter, VentureBeat; and, Michael Sainato, who is the Labor Reporter for The Guardian.
Among the key findings in the Muck Rack report:
• 77% of journalists now use AI tools in their work and nearly half use ChatGPT.
• 36% of journalists say misinformation and disinformation are the most serious threats to the future of journalism.
• LinkedIn is the most trusted platform on social media, while others are viewed as less reliable. 27% say Facebook is the most valuable platform, surpassing X at 21%.
• More than one-third of journalists self-publish their work outside of traditional newsrooms.
The Zoom webinar lasted about 55 minutes and also included expectations of journalists receiving pitches from PR professionals, as well as why many journalists don’t reply to or respond to PR pitches. In terms of the latter, the journalists on the panel said many pitches are not specific to the audience their media covers.
At least two of the journalists on the panel implored PR professionals to research the media they’re pitching to and to accurately spell the name of the person to whom the pitch is being made. Although it doesn’t happen frequently, journalists said many pitches don’t reach them because of incomplete or inaccurate email addresses, or follow-ups from the pitching PR firm that are not followed up with phone calls to contact journalists directly.
Timing of pitches are also important. Two of the journalists in the live panel said they’ve been pitched stories that are happening less than a week before the pitch — leaving them with little time to get approval from a boss or make room in their schedule to cover the item or event being pitched.
But don’t just take WNA’s word for Muck Rack’s Future of Journalism findings — download a copy of the 2025 State of Journalism Report here.
