As the Status Quo Unravels in the Journalism Industry, PR is Adapting, and Climate Companies and Activists Should Too
In the fast-evolving world of journalism, the past months have seen a cascade of layoffs that sent shockwaves across the news media landscape. Institutions like LA Times, TIME, CNBC, Washington Post, and The Atlantic have all laid off significant portions of their reporting and editing teams, including valuable senior voices. Just a few days ago, Business Insider laid off 8% of its staff. Condé Nast is facing a striking workforce that fears pay cuts despite layoffs just months ago, and Forbes’ staff just executed a three-day walkout in support of union negotiations. If you’re looking for evidence of the precarious state of the industry, you don’t have to look far.
These troubling developments, unfortunately, aren’t sparing climate journalists. Only months after announcing the construction of a remarkable LA Times Climate team, 115 journalists were just let go by the historic paper, including some on the newly-established climate desk. Last year CNBC dismantled its climate desk entirely. Popular Science shuttered its print magazine operations after 151 years. In December, WIRED laid off about 20 (tech/science/feature) staffers. Unfortunately, my list could go on with other troubling departures.
The rise of AI writing programs, the shrinking and disassembling of once-growing climate teams, and dwindling reporting budgets paint a grim picture of the future of climate journalism. As someone who once navigated the hallways of a newsroom in San Francisco and eventually transitioned to the world of PR, these troubling developments don’t come as a surprise. Witnessing the origins of this unraveling several years ago was a pivotal factor in my making that switch. The writing on the wall was clear even back in my journalism days – the industry was facing challenges that seemed insurmountable; it was a scary state of affairs for anyone betting their career on journalism.
At Redwood, we recently felt a direct impact of the upheaval in the news business and climate reporting. Despite meticulous efforts, landing an interview, and tapping into the right climate tech conversations, a promising win for a client came apart due to a journalist canceling an interview at the last minute with no explanation. A few days later, we learned that the journalist in question had been laid off. This situation signifies the ripple effects the downfall of legacy media can have on other industries. Although the outcome was less than ideal for Redwood and our client, it’s important to remember that, in this example, someone lost a job, and losing the story is a much smaller thing by comparison.
The news media landscape is changing – mostly for the worse – and there are no signs that it will ever return to its previous form. PR and comms teams are facing a media landscape that was once blooming and growing in every direction. Now the future may involve a space that isn’t as crowded, with media outlets functioning more like a collection of exclusive clubs with a guest list, where if you know someone, you'll get your foot in the door. If you don’t, you’ll be waiting a while.
The contracting media landscape means that brands need to ramp up the development of their own content and distribution channels to tell their stories. More established blogs, webinar series, and self-produced podcasts will become the norm. Additionally, as more companies follow suit and look inward to build their brands, the traditional news behemoths may continue to make way for innovation-focused trade publications - hitting key climate verticals such as grid infrastructure, renewable energy, and sustainability.
One recently launched climate trade publication, Heatmap, has populated its team with seasoned climate journalists and leaders supported by a built-out roster of industry contributors. With their strong climate pedigree and the support of a knowledgeable academic and author-based contributor force, Heatmap’s influence on the industry is likely to grow. We’ve also seen the slow and steady rise of the independent, nonprofit approach, as seen with Canary Media. Canary brings together a group of passionate climate journalists who crank out sophisticated and revelatory reporting while also producing networking events and climate-themed deep-dive campaigns. It’s clear climate journalists are adapting to the new media world. It’s just unclear how these updated approaches will play out.
My hope is strong brand messaging and robust thought leadership programs from climate companies and organizations will drive a desire for the deeply technical and ever-impactful climate stories that move the world forward. Strong thought leadership will attract independent industry influencers, such as Rollie Williams of Climate Town, who can amplify the cause and reach audiences that legacy news publications can’t. The adage "if you build it, they will come" takes on renewed significance in this era where influence and impact are intertwined with the strength of a brand's narrative.
While the current challenges are evident, there is an opportunity for experienced climate PR teams like Redwood to step into this void and champion the cause of climate journalism from the outside in through relationships and understanding. We, as PR practitioners, profess to our clients that we need unique viewpoints and strong opinions to earn attention in a sea of knee-jerk trends and opinions. It’s more important than ever for us to follow our own advice and take some less-traveled paths to achieve our clients’ objectives and support the building of a better climate journalism environment at the same time. Redwood, with its expertise and commitment to the climate first, has the potential to guide and reshape the narrative during this storm, ensuring that climate stories are told in a compelling way and reach their intended audiences in a turbulent information ecosystem.
Understanding the moment and taking an actionable, accessible, and relatable approach to climate storytelling is what we do at Redwood. I’m proud to say that despite my uneasiness about the state of the journalism industry, I know there is opportunity, especially with this team. If you have similar moments of uncertainty when looking at the state of climate media, I encourage you to reach out and connect with us so we can all be part of the solution - driving change and impacting the world one campaign at a time.
