Earned media is having a moment.
AI assistants are surfacing journalism at scale. When they summarize industries, companies, or trends, they lean heavily on reported stories and third-party coverage. For PR professionals, that feels like validation. The work we’ve long believed in is showing up in powerful new ways.
At the same time, newsrooms across the country are shrinking. Beats are disappearing. Reporters are covering twice as much territory as they did a few years ago. The Washington Post layoffs this year weren’t an anomaly. They were a headline example of a broader contraction.
That’s the tension. Earned media is gaining visibility just as the institutions that produce it are under sustained pressure.
I started my career as a newspaper reporter before moving into public relations, where I’ve spent the past two decades advising companies on how to earn coverage. For most of that time, my guidance was simple: focus on earned media. That’s where credibility lives. That’s what builds trust. I still believe that.
When a journalist chooses to cover your company, asks hard questions, and puts their name on the story, it carries weight. A sponsored label doesn’t do that. It never will.
What has changed isn’t the value of earned media. It’s the economics around it.
Over the past few years, I’ve had more conversations with editors about sponsored programs than I did in the previous decade combined. I’ve seen outlets cut beats and reduce staff. I’ve watched long-standing media relationships disappear when reporters left and weren’t replaced. Meanwhile, clients still need reach. They still need credibility. They still need to show up where their buyers are looking for information.
So we adjusted, not by abandoning earned media, but by expanding the plan.
Today, when we build integrated communications programs, we map both earned and sponsored placements. We look closely at which outlets are investing in reporting and which are relying more heavily on paid content. We negotiate sponsored articles that are educational rather than advertorial, and we insist on bylines that offer real perspective instead of marketing copy dressed up as thought leadership. We seek outlets like PYMNTS, Wise Marketer, Payments Journal, Loyalty 360 and Payments Dive who are trusted for their editorial rigor.
In one recent client program, an earned placement established credibility, but a well-crafted sponsored article allowed us to go deeper into data and explain what it meant for the industry. One built trust. The other built understanding. Both had a role.
For years, many in PR treated sponsored content as second tier, something marketing handled or something that diluted credibility. That mindset doesn’t match today’s reality.
Publications are under financial strain. Advertising models have shifted. Subscription growth has limits. Sponsored programs aren’t a side offering for many outlets anymore; they’re part of the operating model. If we say we value journalism, we can’t ignore how it stays afloat.
That doesn’t mean throwing budget at every sponsored opportunity. It means being deliberate. Does the placement inform the audience? Does it align with the publication’s standards? Would a reader walk away having learned something useful?
If the answer is no, we pass. If the answer is yes, it can be a responsible complement to earned coverage.
PR professionals sit in the middle of this tension. We pitch reporters who are stretched thin. We counsel clients who want visibility. We work with outlets balancing editorial integrity and revenue pressure. We see the strain up close.
That’s why this moment requires honesty. Earned media is having a moment in AI-driven discovery. That’s good news. But if we want that visibility to last, we have to support the system that produces it.
In my experience, responsible communications strategies today do three things. They pursue earned coverage rigorously. They evaluate sponsored opportunities carefully. And they hold both to a high standard.
Journalism isn’t just a line item in a media plan. It’s the infrastructure that makes earned media credible in the first place. If we benefit from it, we have a stake in sustaining it.
