When preparing a PR pitch for a client, essential homework always includes probing what currently captures media attention. Thus, you can tailor the pitch to increase the likelihood that it will resonate with editors, instead of pitching unthinkingly. So, how are some technology topics faring in the Finnish media landscape?
At Netprofile, we regularly conduct media analyses covering the needs of our of technology sector clients. Research helps us understand which topics have gained recent coverage, and which have not. In the process, we can identify angles that may interest the media – or new ways to approach certain topics.
Recently, we conducted an agile media analysis of eight topics that we assumed might be relevant, for example, to a software provider. We pulled rough media hit numbers from a media monitoring service covering all Finnish media outlets.
We narrowed down nine key media outlets for a deeper thematic and perspective analysis, also examining which organizations appeared in the news.
As expected, artificial intelligence is the dominant topic in Finnish media among our analyzed topics. Its predominance this year has been phenomenal: over the past six months alone, AI has generated over 12,000 pieces of coverage! This figure overshadows all other topics, as their combined total number only reached 9,500.
Top three topics revolve around threats
The conclusion regarding AI is evident: everything around it still raises enormous interest. Also, it is a real cornucopia as a topic offering a wealth of material. Typical AI themes include its risks, strengths, limitations, misuse and regulation, and impacts on people, companies, and Finland. Coverage primarily focuses on international companies and developments.
The silver medal, as it is, goes to cybersecurity. News stories discuss data breaches and scams widely affecting Finns. Unlike with AI, domestic issues and organizations, rather than international, dominate the airspace. A particular focus has been on attacks targeting Finnish banks and public administration, often attributed to Russia and other authoritarian countries.
With a degree of interpretation, the third most-covered topic is digitalization. As a concept, it has become generic, and rarely appears in news stories. Rather, the media tends to cover its specific manifestations. The discussion often assumes a negative angle regarding, for instance, education and services for older people. Much more frequently than in the news, the term appears in opinion pieces and press release headlines.
Corporate responsibility is a lukewarm topic – except for the mussel disaster
Surprisingly, corporate responsibility received relatively scant media interest, with a media hit count around a thousand. In stories regarding a recent freshwater pearl mussel disaster in the Hukkajoki River, failure in corporate responsibility appeared mostly indirectly and explicitly only in media commentary. Elsewhere, the topic mainly featured in news on the EU’s corporate responsibility law debate. Lesser coverage dealt with the negative impact of the recession on corporate responsibility efforts, and green energy projects and IT sector sustainability.
Robotics ranked the fifth most common search term generating media hits among our analyzed topics. The topic got coverage in regional newspapers in conjunction with investments and the competitiveness of local businesses. Software robotics also received particular attention. Overall, news perceive robotics as an important emerging technology that can boost the Finnish economy. The dual-use potential of robotics in the defense industry is also gaining prominence in the news.
Corporate culture and leadership on the rise
Corporate culture and leadership are very much an emerging topic. The amount of stories has markedly increased after the summer vacations. Mental health-related absences and their presentation in statistics have been a point of contention. Other popular themes include corporate policies on remote and in-office work, examples of good corporate culture, and AI’s impact on leadership.
The least-covered topics in our analysis were public sector IT procurements and the ICT labor market. As a presumption, one might expect more interest in public sector spending, especially given the financial strain in the healthcare sector. However, coverage was sparse, primarily focusing on problems in past and new procurements and IT tendering processes. Media coverage of the ICT labor market was surprisingly limited, mostly reflecting the impacts of economic cycles.
Media strongly prefers topical themes
All in all, nearly all media coverage was reactive. News desks rarely took the initiative to introduce a topic to the public discourse. In its part, the fact reflects that Finnish media has very limited resources to act unless a major news item emerges. The acute need to react consumes newsroom resources.
What does this mean for corporate PR? Above all, expectation management when crafting a media pitch is essential. To gain earned media coverage, one must create a news story that the media simply can’t ignore. The bolder the topic, the better the chance of success.
At best, the pitch connects with a topic that you know to interest the media. Nevertheless, you need to be able to offer a fresh angle—not just a rehash of well-covered material. Lofty PR goals of the communications strategy on thought leadership must convert into concrete action that stands out from the competition.
How does your organization work with the media, and how realistic are your earned media goals? Do you need help with press releases and media pitches? Netprofile’s communications consultants understand media practices and know which topics news desks want to share with their audiences. We also know when an alternative channel may better reach your potential clients.
If you’d like to learn more, please get in touch!
