Master Your Media Landscape: The Key to Building Proactive Relationships with Journalists

Published on March 19, 2025 by Broadsight

The Invisible Power of the Well-Timed Call

In February 2002, a young press secretary at the Pentagon got a tip that a major newspaper was about to publish a scathing piece on military spending. The journalist behind it had a reputation—meticulous, relentless and unlikely to be swayed by last-minute spin. The press secretary, however, had cultivated something just as valuable as hard data: a relationship.

Instead of sending a formal rebuttal or issuing a defensive press release, he made a call. Not a frantic, damage-control call, but a well-timed, deliberate conversation—one that acknowledged the journalist’s concerns, offered additional context and most importantly, reinforced the mutual respect between the two.

The resulting article? Still critical, but balanced. A headline that could have been incendiary became measured. The story still ran, but it didn’t spark the firestorm the Pentagon had feared. And all because of a simple but often-overlooked truth: relationships with journalists are built before you need them, not when you’re in crisis.

The Old Rules of Media Relations Are Gone

For decades, PR professionals and media teams operated in a predictable cycle:

1. Wait for journalists to call
2. React to their questions
3. Hope for fair coverage

This approach is not only outdated—it’s dangerous in an era where news moves at the speed of social media, misinformation spreads faster than corrections and organizations are scrutinized in real time.

Today, it isn’t about having the best press releases or the most polished spokespeople. It’s about relationships, access and trust. It’s about ensuring that when journalists do cover your organization—whether it’s a crisis, a feature or an investigative piece—they see you as a credible, engaged and responsive source rather than a defensive or elusive entity.

So, how do you move from reactive to proactive?

1. Be a Reliable Source Before You Need One

The most effective media teams don’t just respond to journalists, they anticipate their needs. That means:

• Keeping an updated, detailed media list—not just names and outlets, but journalists’ beats, interests and past work
• Reaching out before big stories break to offer background information, data and sources
• Maintaining ongoing conversations even when there’s no immediate news to share

If a journalist only hears from you when you’re correcting a quote or asking for a retraction, you’re not a trusted source—you’re a gatekeeper.

2. Understand the Journalist’s Perspective

Journalists operate on deadlines, competition and credibility. They don’t have time for corporate fluff, vague talking points or requests to “send questions in advance.” If you want a real relationship with the press, you need to respect their process:

• Know their deadlines: If a journalist calls at 3 p.m. for a comment by 5 p.m., they’re not being unreasonable; they’re on deadline.
• Give them something usable: Every journalist dreads PR responses that are too polished, too rehearsed and too vague to quote. Be direct, even if that means acknowledging uncertainty.
• Offer value beyond your own organization: If a journalist is covering a larger industry trend and you connect them with another expert or provide a useful report, they’ll remember that.

3. Use Data to Strengthen Relationships, Not Just Stories

Most media teams track mentions, coverage sentiment and journalist engagement, but few use that data strategically to improve their relationships with journalists. A sophisticated media tracking system should tell you:

• Who is covering your organization the most—and how
• Which journalists frequently misinterpret your messaging—so you can adjust
• Which topics generate the most engagement—and how to leverage that

Too often, organizations treat media tracking like a rearview mirror—a way to analyze coverage after the fact. The real value comes in using it as a GPS, helping you navigate relationships and adjust messaging before stories break.

This is one of the reasons our founder Kurt Heinrich created Broadsight Tracker—to ensure his team had the data they needed in one central hub. Now they have every journalist interaction in one place—emails, calls, past quotes and media requests. This way, the team doesn’t just react to coverage, they shape it.

4. Centralize and Share Institutional Knowledge

One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is siloing media relationships. A long-standing rapport between a journalist and a senior spokesperson shouldn’t disappear when that spokesperson leaves. Yet, without a structured system, media teams often lose valuable institutional knowledge every time personnel changes.

That’s why centralizing this knowledge matters. When teams keep a record of past journalist interactions, their preferred contact method and key details from previous conversations, they don’t have to start from scratch every time a request comes in.

Again, with Broadsight Tracker, no media relationship lives in someone’s inbox or memory alone. Every interaction is logged, ensuring continuity even when team members change.

5. Be the First Call, Not the Last Defence

At the highest levels of media relations, the goal isn’t just avoiding bad coverage—it’s becoming a journalist’s first call when they need insights on an industry issue. Organizations that master their media landscape position themselves as:

• Proactive, not reactive: engaging with the press before crises hit
• Helpful, not obstructive: offering expertise, even when it’s inconvenient
• Trustworthy, not just available: giving journalists what they need, not just what you want them to print

When this dynamic is established, even when critical stories arise, you’re in the room where the narrative is shaped—not just reacting to it after the fact.

Master the Landscape, Control the Narrative

The press secretary at the Pentagon knew something that every modern media team should internalize: journalist relationships are not transactions—they are investments. The work you put in today will determine how your organization is covered tomorrow.

And the right tools make that investment easier to manage. Not to beat a dead horse, but that’s why we built Broadsight Tracker—to help media teams build and sustain proactive journalist relationships, ensuring no request falls through the cracks.

When you have the full picture in one place, your team isn’t scrambling to find past emails, piece together fragmented media lists or track journalist sentiment by memory alone. You’re not just keeping up with the news cycle—you’re shaping it.

Want to see how Broadsight Tracker can help your team take control of your media landscape? Request a demo today.