Underrated media news this week

Something happened this week that should be getting more attention from PR people. It probably won’t sound like a big deal to you, but stick with me and I’ll show you why it matters.

Axios is a digital-native news company that, until now, has made its name with mostly political news. But Monday they launched local news email newsletters in Tampa and the Twin Cities.

This on the heels of their $5 million acquisition last month of the Charlotte Agenda, an email newsletter for Charlotte with all of six staffers. Contrast that with the $49 million that an investment fund paid out of pocket in September for the Charlotte Observer (60 journalists) and 25 other local papers across the country.

Who would you rather be? My Inner Circle member Susan Dosier, who started pitching the Charlotte Agenda back in 2017 and is on a text-message basis with their founding (and now very rich) staffers? Or all the other PR pros in Charlotte who are watching the slow demise of their hometown paper and are now clamoring to get noticed by the Charlotte Agenda?

Next on Axios’ list are Denver and Des Moines, and then more. Another local news company – 6AM City – has daily newsletters running in seven cities and will be launching in 15 more this year.

You should definitely keep pitching your current media list, because that’s what your bosses/clients pay you to do. But you should also be identifying the next “Charlotte Agenda” in your market or niche, because now is when you face less competition to get on their radar.

This was one of the insights I shared with my Inner Circle earlier this month on our annual “What Will Matter in PR This Year” training session. We also covered:

• The national and trade email newsletter companies that are also quietly stealing eyeballs from stumbling legacy outlets
• Newly profitable media companies with unique business models to keep your eyes on
• New tech tools to rank the credibility of all the outlets you now need to monitor and evaluate

The Inner Circle is currently closed to new members, but anyone who joins later this year gets access to the entire “What Will Matter” training, and all of our previous sessions.

Subscribe to our free Wait List to get excerpts from our best trainings.