"We have a hard paywall at the Australian. It means that bar is pretty high in terms of me taking the time to tackle something and go really in depth with it. And that often means…if there's a new story, it probably has to be exclusive to us.” – David Swan, Technology Editor, The Australian   Considered a rock star among the tech PR peeps, Technology Editor at The Australian David Swan has an uncanny ability to turn the technical into the connectable.   “I used to write for a technology news website for IT professionals, so I could use jargon and get away with it,” David explains. &n ..read more

“Media networks are running on the smell of an oily rag – they really are. So there's actually an opportunity there for PRs and for spokespersons to guide and influence the direction of the story.” –Jessica Ridley, Today Show Presenter + BTW Media Founder   This episode of It’s PR Darlings, Jo Stone and Greer Quinn chat with journalist Jessica Ridley whose voice – and face – you’d recognise from national TV reporting roles, news-reading gigs and live crosses.   It’s PR Darlings invited Jess on the podcast for two reasons – one is her years of experience in TV and her insights into po ..read more

“One of the really key sentiments that came out [of Medianet’s 2022 Media Landscape Report] was the most important aspect of a pitch…is that the story’s original, newsworthy and relevant to that journalist’s specific field of reporting and audience.” -Amrita Sidhu, Director of Media Intelligence, Medianet and Mediaverse   From pet peeves to journalists’ preferred days and ways to receive media releases, the impacts of Covid-19 on reporting to media trolling and gender pay gaps, this episode offers a deep dive into 2022’s complex media landscape.   Taking us through the insights, base ..read more

“Michael and I get in about 3:30am. We have a staff meeting at about 5:00am where we run through the show – what's planned, what our top story is, what we're going to tease, what our best vision is for the day...” -Lisa Millar, ABC News Breakfast   Australia’s breakfast TV wars have been dominated by Channel Nine’s Today Show and Seven’s Sunrise. Other stations have tried but these two early morning juggernauts have had decades of loyal followers always battling for the top spot – until now. The ratings have become a closer race during the past two years after one of ABC’s most experience ..read more

Quirky is out and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) trends are in according to NewsCorp’s news.com.au's Editor Oliver Murray, or "Oli", as he prefers.   Oli spent several years working in regional news and local Sydney papers before joining news.com.au and moving up through the ranks to step into the top job.   Kicking off Season Three of it’s PR Darlings, Ollie lets co-hosts Jo Stone and Greer Quinn pick his brains about the best ways PRs can assist the digital behemoth cover the stories that make its audience tick (and click).   “If it’s a question we’re asking, it’s usually so ..read more

Wrapping up Season Two and a shameless plug for our upcoming webinar in partnership with Medianet ? During this wrap-up of Season Two Co-hosts Jo Stone and Greer Quinn have heard from journalists and industry leaders about the way the pandemic is changing work lives, media content, newsworthiness and even shaping how our news is delivered. ? It’s becoming clear that Covid-19 isn’t going away within the foreseeable future and businesses need crisis management plans that can adapt as quickly as mutant strains. So during this mini-episode, Greer and Jo also talk about an upcoming collaboration w ..read more

 “This consumer is 50 per cent of private wealth in Australia. Ninety-four per cent do research online before making significant purchases. Fifty-five per cent of all leisure travel spending is in this category normally. And that's got pent-up demand written all over it.” -Rebecca Wilson, Founder, Starts at 60   Starts at 60 CEO and Founder Rebecca Wilson was watching her parents on their road to retirement when she realised this generation had been largely forgotten within the marketing pie.   From humble beginnings in a bedroom at home, Rebecca has grown Starts at 60 into a po ..read more

“We are a country of people who are very obsessed with travel…Australians are hardcore travelers…We're also a country who are obsessed with real estate…COVID-19 swept into town, which altered real estate quite dramatically, and also prevented us from traveling. So accordingly, it's not that surprising that we would start to get even more involved in our homes and more au fait with real estate markets in general. And NewsCorp is smart. And it knows what to do when these things occur…they saw that straight away. And here we are with At Home flipbook Real Estate.” During the past 18 months, our ..read more

 “You're surrounded by fires. It's still burning. There’s smoke in the air. You can't breathe. My wife was about 10 months pregnant, so I was worried and I said to her, ‘look, you can't be here’…I had a bushfire evacuation plan in place…If the fires were going to come through Bega, my car was already packed. So I told my wife…‘you need to go stay with my parents in Sydney’… I [stayed] home with our two dogs and the cat and I was scared. Don't get me wrong. I was very, very scared.” -Daniel Doody, Studio 10 Roving Reporter   What happens when the community you know and love is on fire ..read more

Content is everything, and storytelling is everything, to us as a brand. What they [influencers] create that we're able to repost is just as important as the reach that they have. It's about getting good content as much as it is about them providing it on their own channels. -Mel Carrero, Marketing Manager, Spell   It’s hard to assign a title to Mel Carrero from Byron Bay-born fashion label Spell.   Mel originally trained as a journalist but longed to work in the fashion industry.   She was on the verge of upping stumps from Northern New South Wales for the bright lights of Sydn ..read more