The 2015 Business Wire Media Survey results lead to an interesting question for both journalists and PR practitioners. Business Wire asks, “Is your media relations programming changing fast enough to meet the needs of today’s 24/7 media?”

I know I’m trying to keep current of the changes, but if you are like me with daily and long-range deadlines, as well as last-minute requests and lots of one-offs, it’s often a challenge to unearth the latest trends, let alone respond to them. That’s why I sign up for numerous distribution lists and receive reports such as the Business Wire Media Survey of nearly 400 journalists worldwide.

The survey uncovered key trends related to the future of reporting. They include:

• The increased need for web and multimedia knowledge by today’s reporters.
• The desire for social media shares, not social media pitches.
• The future of reporting tools such as interactive multimedia content and livestream services.

At my organization, we created an online newsroom to better provide content to reporters and editors. We also devote considerable time to our social media presence, and are both sharing and pitching with shares significantly outweighing pitches. When a reporters writes about us, we share the reporter’s story and include the appropriate tags. We also think differently about how we pitch stories. One radio station now routinely requests photos and videos. Yes, you read that correctly, a radio station wants images, specifically for its website.

Pressure on reporters also is greater. When I was a reporter, it was a good day when I had the relevant sources and made my deadlines. Today, reporters’ stories are evaluated on a variety of additional metrics, including

• Number of page views,
• Unique visits to the story,
• Social media activity such as likes, tweets, sharing and emailing, and
• Comments left on the individual article.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the information reporters want from a press release. Reporters want

• Breaking news
• Interesting story angles
• Supporting facts
• Company background information.

If you are the one writing the release, you want to be sure to include the relevant information reporters not only seek, but expect. This also includes multimedia. Photographs (82.8%) remained the preferred item, but graphics (48.4%), video files (38.1%) and infographics (35.8%) also are in demand.

Are you ready to meet the needs of today’s 24/7 media?