Coverage Report

News and analysis on health media and PR.

November 2020 edition

First Pitch

SURVEY: How is COVID-19 affecting media relations?

Dear Reader,

Everything has changed since the first edition of Coverage Report in February. In no way did I expect that I would not publish the second edition until November. But here we are.

I have been wondering about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of healthcare marketing and communication professionals, and what challenges you face, internal and external, in media relations.

To take a pulse reading, I have a quick survey: It’s designed for in-house communications professionals who either deliver or oversee media relations for firms providing expert services to healthcare companies. Healthcare does not have to be the firm’s sole focus. The survey is eight questions and takes about five minutes to complete. 

If the survey is a fit for you, please share your thoughts here. And please forward the survey to anyone who fits the description. 

I will share survey results with anyone who enters their email address at the end of the survey. I also plan on writing one or more blog posts on the results.

I’m also giving a $25 gift card to each of two respondents—Amazon or Starbucks, winner’s choice.

Thanks for your time and attention,

Vince

Clip Show

Peak Newsletter? That was 80 years ago

Wired, 7 min read time

The mimeograph machine enabled dozens of journalists to quit their staff jobs and publish independently in the 1930s and 1940s. Left leaning at a time when media outlets were mostly conservative, the newsletter writers relied on distribution through labor unions and liberal bookstores. The model declined as unions did.

The current wave of newsletters is a reaction to the brutal economics of the news business, with platforms like Substack and Patreon making it easier than ever to monetize. When will the pendulum swing back?

How to earn media coverage in ‘boring’ B2B niches

Muck Rack blog, 7 min read time

A content marketer at Fractl offers solid advice for content-driven PR strategies. Emotional resonance is a theme throughout. Two of the three great examples here feature data-driven approaches: Glassdoor using its own data to develop a Top 25 markets for jobs pitch and another company using a survey.

A 10-point checklist for a social media audit

Blog by Marie-Ennis O’Connor, 6 min read time

O’Connor offers a checklist for social media audits that she recommends doing twice a year, with links to resources (e.g., audience persona templates, blog posts).

Heath Freeman is the hedge fund guy who says he wants to save local news. Somehow, no one’s buying it.

Washington Post, 12 minute read time

This in-depth feature may indirectly explain the return of the newsletter trend.

Placements

Notable moves in health media and PR

Shelby Livingston has left Modern Healthcare to cover health insurance and care providers at Business Insider (Twitter)

National journalism not-for-profit ProPublica is hiring a healthcare investigative reporter based in Washington, D.C. (ProPublica)

Business Insider is seeking a healthcare fellow to start in January (LinkedIn)

STAT News is looking for a Washington correspondent (STAT News)

Former American Medical Association President Patrice Harris has been named medical editor-in-chief for Everyday Health (MM&M)

Editing changes for the health team at Bloomberg (Talking Biz News)

Kaiser Health News added to its regional team by hiring Katheryn Houghton to cover Montana health news from Missoula (Twitter)

The -30-

My plea (especially to headline writers): For the rest of this pandemic, can we shelve using “going viral” to describe sudden social media success? Ten months into this pandemic, with no end in sight, and we are still seeing this and this and this and this and this. Let’s give it a rest until meeting someone from outside our household inside a restaurant is not a life-or-death choice.