Written by: Kaila Currie-Bartlett, Account Executive, Craft Public Relations & Digital Communications Coordinator, CPRS Toronto
For our April In Conversation With series, we connected with Samiha Fariha, who is an account executive at Torchia Communications, a PR agency based here in Toronto. Before launching her career in PR, she worked as a marketing specialist at Bosley Real Estate, a real estate brokerage firm. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in political science from the University of Toronto, a post-graduate certificate in public relations from Humber College and a certificate in digital marketing management from the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. In her free time, she enjoys writing about industry trends and social media. Some of her past stories have been published by top trade publications such as PR NEWS, Ragan Communications, Talking Influence and Marketing Magazine Australia.
How did 2020 change your role as a PR practitioner?
As an account executive at Torchia Communications, a large part of my role includes securing earned media coverage for our clients, and as you can imagine, COVID-19 has impacted the media landscape. Many journalists and media professionals shifted to working from home, which made reaching media by phone more challenging. As such, Zoom interviews have become more common and now the alternative for many afternoon, morning and weekend shows on TV, which required me to become even more creative when pitching segments or story ideas for our clients, so producers and hosts understood the benefit and the visual appeal of my pitches.
What other changes to your career/role as a PR practitioner do you see emerging in 2021 and beyond? Why?
The media landscape has really changed during COVID and through 2021. Many radio shows on prominent media outlets have been cancelled, some weekly papers have shut down and reporters that have worked at tier-one media outlets have switched to media outlets with low reach. These changes in the media landscape have made building and maintaining relationships a bit more difficult.
Securing purely editorial opportunities on popular shows, radio and TV and stories on print/web have become difficult. Most outlets have moved to a ‘pay to play’ business model where brands will have to pay a cost to secure an editorial opportunity. These shifts in the media landscape make it harder to rely solely on earned media to get coverage.
What is your biggest piece of advice for PR practitioners moving forward?
Moving forward, PR practitioners should be even more creative. If the media landscape is changing and making it difficult to secure editorial opportunities for your client’s spokespeople on TV, radio and print/web, then you need to think creatively and consider influencer marketing. Consider partnering with an influencer when doing media tours or make an influencer your spokesperson to prevent the story from sounding too advertorial. There are several angles you can consider to think creatively and to generate earned media coverage.
Additional comments
The communications landscape is constantly changing. For PR practitioners to provide effective counsel they need to be aware of the latest trends in the communications landscape. PR practitioners should keep up-to-date with the latest trends in communications and write or speak out more about emerging trends so others can learn from them. I believe knowledge-sharing is crucial for our industry as many can benefit from our insights in this constantly changing landscape.
About CPRS Toronto’s In Conversation With blog series
Once a month, CPRS Toronto’s communications and marketing subcommittee will post quick conversations with GTA public relations practitioners and industry thought leaders. During these conversations we look to explore the impact COVID-19 has had on communication practitioners, as well as provide insights into the future of public relations moving forward. If you are interested in participating, please contact our Digital Communications Coordinator, Kaila Currie-Bartlett at kailacurriebartlett@gmail.com.