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In a study of nearly 2,500 journalists, MuckRack unsurprisingly found that media coverage has completely been thrown on its head because of The Corona. But some of the reasons why are surprising, including what they’re having to do about it, among furloughs and layoffs.

While 62% of those they surveyed are full-time writers, 38% are freelancers or part-time journalists. They are experts, with 60% having more than 10 years of experience and 72% report online or in print. To boot, the average journalist surveyed covers more than three beats, which is something to keep in mind as you go about pitching—they’re scattered and, as I like to say, a bit over their skis while they try to manage the workload of multiple people.

According to the study by MuckRack, which I’ll link to in the shownotes, 94% of journalists say that some, most, or all of their reporting have pivoted to angles related to The Corona. 

Nearly everyone (98%) said they are doing more stories about COVID-19 and/or health and wellness, and more stories about remote work and/or virtual communication. And, while 19% of journalists say they have less work in general, 23% say they have a larger workload due to the layoffs and furloughs of others where they work.

What all of this means for you, how you do that, and other interesting findings are what we discuss on today’s episode of the Spin Sucks podcast.

Resources Included

• The State of Journalism 2021
• Spin Sucks Community

About Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based integrated marketing communications firm. She is the lead blogger at Spin Sucks and is the founder of Spin Sucks Pro. She is the co-author of Marketing in the Round and co-host of Inside PR. Full bio