How healthcare PR must adapt to the evolving media landscape

Josh Birch
Media Relations Manager

PR is one of the best ways for healthcare, health tech, and MedTech companies to establish third-party validation, but how does the changing media landscape impact PR efforts?

The days of families gathering around the television to watch Walter Cronkite deliver the day’s news are long over. Today, people are more likely to get their information from social media than mainstream media outlets. The shift from long-form, fact-checked, and detailed coverage to delivering all the necessary info in 200 characters or less doesn’t just impact reporters, it shifts how healthcare companies need to share stories to generate meaningful earned media coverage. Here’s how:

01. Trade media matters.

While seeing your name in the New York Times is certainly exciting and the outlet reaches millions of people, this accomplishment may not be as effective at reaching your target audience in a healthcare trade publication for these reasons:

• Targeted audience: Trade publications connect directly with industry professionals, decision-makers, and potential buyers, rather than a broad, general public.
• Credibility and trust: Writers tend to have a deep understanding of the industry, making their coverage more trusted and reputable.
• Deep, nuanced content: Trade media allows for in-depth, technical explanations, case studies, and thought leadership where national coverage is written to a more general audience.
• SEO: Trade publications are more likely to include backlinks to your website, aiding in digital visibility and SEO.

While national media provides massive scale, it often lacks the specific, actionable, and trusted influence of niche trade publications, making trade media more valuable for specialized business growth.

02. Use AI for ideas, not insights.

While there are effective ways to leverage AI in PR, reporters are skeptical, and many outlets specifically forbid AI-generated content. While AI can help build an outline, offer topic ideas, or provide pointers, it shouldn’t be used in place of human insights cultivated through lived experience. Interview quotes and thought leadership articles should offer a unique perspective, not the paraphrased thoughts of all those experts who came before you.

03. Be fast and flexible.

The adage that news never stops has never been more relevant. A few decades ago, you had to wait until the newspaper was on your porch or the evening news came on to find out what was happening in the world. Now, you can look at Facebook, X, LinkedIn, or simply Google what you want to know and find information without delay. The immediacy of today’s news and the availability of social media make timely communication even more important for healthcare companies. Reporters work under tight deadlines and pressure to break the news first. The healthcare companies that can be most flexible and available to reporters will be the ones most likely quoted or cited in a story. Necessary response times to the media are often measured in minutes, not days.

The media landscape may be changing, but one thing that remains true is PR efforts are the centerpiece of third-party validation for healthcare companies. As reporters prioritize personalized, impactful, and interactive content that can be developed and published quickly, they’ll look for new ways to identify subject matter experts to inform their work. Sources who adapt will succeed while those who don’t will become as outdated as the evening newscast.