Several high-profile political stories are, predictably, dominating headlines. As ubiquitous as they seem, right beneath the top layer are narratives flowing throughout the professional and business world.
Market consolidations continue to pop across everything from the CRM space, to automotive, to AI and big data. Bitcoin and decentralized banking thread their way through stories that have the potential to drive the ebb and flow of global markets. Cybersecurity and data security, though somewhat muted due to the frequency of alarming breaches, remains a top concern for nearly every aspect of our lives.
In the B2B PR world, it’s our job to cut through the noise of the national issues and entrench ourselves in the nuance of whichever technical corners concern our client. We take our cues from national trends, obviously, but sometimes that ‘big idea’ can be distilled into an interesting and specific pitch.
But, it’s the end of the year, and if clients are scrambling, we’re scrambling, too.
As we near the time of predictions, gift guides, best-ofs, it’s tempting to package up a bouquet of half-baked ideas and conservative guesses aimed at the impact of data. From a journalist’s perspective, the overwhelming email problem is palpable. Before firing off that note, think about what it would take to get you to open a marketing email from a random CMO facing the Q4 metrics crush. Quite a bit, right?
What kind of value is your pitch adding to the journalist? It’s a question we ask before we send any pitch, but around the end of the year, subject lines start to look awfully similar, predictions a little too close together, product reviews a little more desperate. If 2019 is any indication, things are moving in increasingly unpredictable ways, and the most interesting stories are the ones that are willing to take a tack less traveled.
We continue to see significant movement in the media space – a reflection of the tenuous state of things on the consumer and audience front. The mergers and acquisitions are picking up speed.
Vice Media
- Vice Media has acquired the women-focused digital media company Refinery29.
Vox Media
- Vox Media has acquired New York Media, which publishes New York magazine.
Bustle Digital Group
- Bustle is introducing a tech news site, Input, which will launch next month.
RT Insights
- The publication gained a new Editor-in-Chief, Sal Salamone, in August. Salamone replaced interim Editor-in-Chief, Joe Maglitta, following Trevor Curwin’s departure.
New York Times
- Rich Barbieri has joined the Times as deputy business editor following his role at CNN, where he has worked since 2007.
- Eleanor Barkhorn, the deputy managing editor of Vox, is joining the New York Times Op-Ed team later this month as a technology editor.
FOX
- Lauren Petterson has been named president of FOX Business Network. She formerly served as senior vice president of morning programming and talent development.
Bloomberg
- Matt Townsend take on the role of editor for Bloomberg’s retail new vertical Checkout. Townsend has been at Bloomberg for over 10 years.
Quartz
- Amrita Khalid leaves Engadget, where she has been a contributing write for 8 months, to cover tech for Quartz.
Business Insider
- Former Senior Editorial Director at Bloomberg Law, Casey Sullivan, has joined Business Insider to cover private equity.
Digiday
- Digiday Media expanded its brand with the addition of Modern Retail, the third major franchize within the Digiday Media family, which also launched Glossy in 2016.
- Modern Retail will be led by Hilary Milnes, who helped lead Glossy and previously led Digiday’s retail coverage. She is joined by Digiday retail reporter Anna Hensel.
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