13 Aug 2026
au politics
Albanese plants the flag on national AI ambition
The PM followed up his recent AI speech with an exclusive sit-down with Capital Brief laying out Australia's AI ambition and effectively telling the world to follow our lead. It signals AI policy is now a headline prime-ministerial priority, not a side issue, with sovereign capability and adoption framed as national economic strategy.
Why it mattersAI positioning is now top of the news agenda in Australia, which is fertile ground for Pressto and LaunchLink clients to newsjack. Founders and fintech clients with a credible AI angle can ride government messaging into coverage. Worth a founder POV piece or reactive pitch while the topic is hot.
Read moreCapital Brief · Influencing Daily
economy
Rates higher for longer, a smelter bailout, and a housing tax shift
Front pages are carrying three linked signals: banks now flag interest rates staying elevated out to 2028, the Tomago aluminium smelter secured a $2.5bn lifeline, and CBA has thrown support behind Labor's housing tax changes. Together they point to a slow-grind, high-cost-of-capital environment with government and big business aligning on industrial and housing intervention.
Why it mattersA prolonged high-rate backdrop shapes how founders talk about growth, runway and fundraising, and how fintech and payments clients frame consumer stress narratives. Rates-to-2028 is a strong hook for any client with a cost-of-living, lending or savings product to comment on.
Read moreInfluencing Daily · Capital Brief
fintech
Digital banks are buying the primary banking relationship with rewards
Chime shares jumped more than 20% after its premium Chime Prime tier (high-yield savings, 5% category cash back, instant loans) pulled in higher-earning members and lifted spend, pushing the company to raise full-year guidance to 25-26% revenue growth. PayPal, under new CEO Enrique Lores, is set to pour investment into financial services across PayPal and Venmo. The whole digital-banking market is escalating incentives, with the prize being the direct-deposit or primary account.
Why it mattersThis is the exact competitive dynamic Codat and fintech clients operate around, and a clean narrative for any payments or banking client: whoever owns primary banking wins. Useful proof point that incentives plus cost leadership, not features alone, drive fintech growth stories.
Read moreThis Week in Fintech
fintech
Payments incumbents reshuffle as interchange politics heat up
Adyen extended its Toast partnership into the United States, taking on acquiring share from Worldpay (now Global Payments) and J.P. Morgan across a merchant processing more than $215bn a year. Meanwhile Fiserv cut its second-half outlook again on a tougher Argentina and slower conversions, and the Credit Card Competition Act picked up three new Senate co-sponsors, two of them on Banking, with Trump again branding swipe fees a ripoff.
Why it mattersAcquiring share shifts and renewed interchange pressure are directly relevant to Codat and any payments-adjacent client. The swipe-fee fight is a recurring US policy story clients can weigh in on, and Adyen-Toast shows the land-and-expand playbook that makes a strong founder commentary angle.
Read moreThis Week in Fintech · Adyen
crypto
SEC readies a crypto framework as the Clarity Act stalls
The SEC is poised to unveil major crypto plans, reportedly including an escape hatch for projects, just as the Clarity Act loses momentum. Majority Leader Thune has filed cloture setting up a September 15 Senate vote, but with Congress out in October and midterms pulling focus, one read puts passage odds around 25%. Regulators are moving faster than legislators to fill the gap.
Why it mattersRegulatory clarity is the single biggest swing factor for Zerocap and digital-asset clients. An SEC framework arriving ahead of legislation reshapes how institutional crypto stories should be pitched. Strong moment for a Zerocap POV on what US rulemaking means for institutional adoption.
Read moreCrypto Sum · Bloomberg
crypto
Australia tightens the screws on crypto ATMs
The Australian watchdog suspended Cryptolink, forcing 96 crypto ATMs offline, part of a wider local crackdown on cash-to-crypto conduits linked to scams and laundering. It lands alongside global enforcement noise: a $397M crypto Ponzi charge in Florida and a $400M bitcoin fraud action, reinforcing a compliance-first tone in the sector.
Why it mattersLocal enforcement is a reputational backdrop Zerocap and any AU digital-asset client must navigate carefully. It strengthens the case for positioning institutional, compliant players as the grown-ups in the room, and is a timely angle for thought leadership on trust and regulation.
Read moreCoinDesk · Crypto Sum
ai
AI-Native Services: sell the outcome, not the software
Australian VC TEN13 published a whitepaper arguing AI-Native Services is the biggest structural shift since SaaS. The pitch: for every $1 of software spend there is roughly $10 of services spend, and models that went from solving under 30% of real software bugs to 84%+ in 18 months can now do that work end to end. Firms are buying services businesses cheap, layering AI, and selling finished outcomes at software-like margins. TEN13 mapped 35 companies and the investors backing them.
Why it mattersThis reframes what a modern AI company sells, and it is a sharp lens for Pressto's own positioning: not another tool, but delivered PR outcomes. Also a rich content and pitch theme for founder clients wanting to sound ahead of the curve on where AI value is moving.
Read moreTEN13
ai
AI can now write DNA, and that cuts both ways
On The Neuron podcast, Radical Numerics CEO Eric Nguyen detailed models that read and write DNA, having already generated a complete bacteriophage genome and ranked Alzheimer's-related genes in 30 minutes versus two years in the lab. The upside is personalised medicine and on-demand countermeasures; the risk is deepfake viruses that dodge sequence-based detection, making biosecurity the flip side of the breakthrough.
Why it mattersBiological AI is the next frontier story after agents, and a vivid example of the dual-use AI narrative dominating tech media. Useful context for framing AI-safety and responsible-innovation angles, and a conversation starter for AI-adjacent founder content.
Read moreThe Neuron
ai
Crypto miners and AI infrastructure are merging
Riot Platforms' stock jumped on a $9.1bn deal with Anthropic, while CoreWeave more than doubled Q2 revenue on booming AI infrastructure demand, including new business from Anthropic and Meta. Bitcoin miners with power and data-centre footprints are repricing themselves as AI compute providers, blurring the line between crypto and the AI buildout and drawing in fresh capital.
Why it mattersThis convergence sits right at the intersection of Zerocap's crypto world and the AI story every client wants to touch. It is a credible, current hook for commentary on where energy, compute and capital are flowing, and reframes crypto infrastructure as AI infrastructure.
Read moreThe Block · Exec Sum
media pr
Australian media reshuffles while new titles launch
The local media map is shifting again: Elizabeth Gracie is leaving New Idea for London, Matthew Sullivan has moved to news.com.au in London, and Capital Radio Network's Michael Jones was made redundant after 12 years. On the launch side, Jackson Ryan and Mark Serrels are rolling out CONTINUE? Magazine, a new games title, and RIMPA is running a $10,000 hackathon on guarding against AI bias and misinformation.
Why it mattersMedia contacts are moving desks and mastheads, so media lists need refreshing before any pitch push. New launches like CONTINUE? open fresh outlets to target, and the AI-misinformation hackathon signals where editors' attention is heading. Keep the LaunchLink media database current off these moves.
Read moreInfluencing Daily
12 Aug 2026
crypto
Mainstream business media are building dedicated crypto desks
Fortune is standing up a crypto vertical (Leo Schwartz, Justin Doom, reporting to Jeff Roberts), Bloomberg has a crypto managing editor in Stacy-Marie Ishmael focused on regulation and its impact on consumers and investors, Forbes, Gizmodo and Money are investing in crypto coverage, and TechCrunch's Chain Reaction podcast (Anita Ramaswamy and Lucas Matney) is actively courting crypto guests.
Why it mattersCrypto and web3 clients have a fresh crop of named, hungry reporters and a podcast actively seeking guests, so pitch windows are wide open across Fortune, Bloomberg and TechCrunch.
Read moreSubstack
fintech
Fintech and payments are getting their own data-led verticals and awards
CB Insights launched Fintech Insights, a biweekly data-driven newsletter on fintech and insurtech funding and partnerships, and Tearsheet is running its Power of Payments Awards recognising top payments products and brands, signalling dedicated space for fintech and payments stories.
Why it mattersFintech and payments clients now have a data-focused newsletter to feed with funding and partnership news, and a payments-specific awards franchise to raise their profile.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
New mastheads and niche vertical newsletters are multiplying pitch targets
Semafor is launching in October from Justin Smith and Ben Smith with 60 staff and $25M, Axios Local is expanding from 24 to 30 cities, and Morning Brew and Fortune are spinning up dedicated healthcare, CHRO and crypto newsletters staffed by named editors such as Maia Lura Anderson and Amber Burton.
Why it mattersThe proliferation of new outlets and vertical newsletters creates fresh, narrowly-focused inboxes to pitch, rewarding early media list updates and beat-specific angles over broad blasts.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Late-2022 media contraction reshaping who is safe to pitch
A wave of layoffs and closures hit through late 2022: cuts at BuzzFeed, The Washington Post, Gannett and CNN, Protocol ceasing publication, Morning Brew cutting 14 percent of staff, and FinLedger shutting down. At the same time Business Insider moved 60 formerly paywalled writers in front of its paywall after the paywall underperformed on subscribers.
Why it mattersMedia lists need constant re-verification before pitching, and more Business Insider coverage is now free and pitchable. Laid-off writers from Protocol and Morning Brew are also a hiring pool for op-ed, byline and content work.
Read moreSubstack
fintech
A crop of new fintech and finance verticals opening up to pitch
Multiple outlets stood up dedicated fintech and finance products: Politico's Digital Future Daily and Morning Money, the Financial Times' The Future of Money (Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan and Imani Moise), Tearsheet's Steez podcast, and The Information's Dealmaker newsletter (Kate Clark) plus its first finance editor Nathan Becker.
Why it mattersNeobanks, payments and investment platforms have a fresh set of trade and national targets, and several editors are newly in seat and building coverage from scratch.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Future-of-work and employer-brand desks launching
Bloomberg launched Work Shift covering recruitment, retention, return to office, leadership and skills (Nicole Bullock, Matthew Boyle, Arianne Cohen, Jo Constantz), and the WSJ ran its As We Work podcast on the changing workplace (Erin Delmore).
Why it mattersA clear window for HR tech, workplace and culture clients, but editors are explicit that they reject funding announcements, fluffy profiles and obvious survey data.
Read moreSubstack
crypto
Crypto media churning around the FTX collapse
Crypto coverage was in flux post-FTX, with reporters moving in and out of the beat: Katie Canales left Business Insider to write Morning Brew's Incrypto, Lucas Matney left TechCrunch to lead Bankless, and Anita Ramaswamy stepped back from TechCrunch's Chain Reaction crypto podcast.
Why it mattersCrypto and fintech media lists are turning over fast, so relationships need rebuilding and new bylines tracking as reporters change outlets.
Read moreSubstack
ai
AI hardening into a named beat across newsrooms
AI moved from a sub-topic to a dedicated beat: the NYT launched Hard Fork with Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, Kevin Roose signalled he is open to meetings and guest suggestions on AI, and Politico's Digital Future Daily and POLITICO Tech folded AI into their remit.
Why it mattersGrowing appetite for AI thought leadership and expert sources, with named podcast and newsletter slots actively looking for voices from deep tech and generative AI.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Newsroom contraction is forcing constant media-list hygiene
A dense run of cuts and closures: BuzzFeed shut its news division, PAPER Magazine and Morning Consult laid off their entire editorial teams, Business Insider cut 10 percent, the LA Times cut 74 newsroom roles, NPR cut 10 percent and dropped four podcasts, and Dot.LA and Gawker wound down.
Why it mattersMedia lists go stale fast. Contacts and outlets that were live targets a season ago disappear, so lists need pruning before any outreach and clients should not be told coverage in a now-defunct desk is still possible.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
A wave of niche B2B and vertical newsletters is filling the gap left by Protocol
New launches cluster around enterprise, workplace and AI: Charter (Kevin Delaney, future of work), Runtime (Tom Krazit, enterprise tech), Lowpass (entertainment), Industry Dive's Automotive Dive, Axios Pro Tech Policy, Wired's Fast Forward AI newsletter and Forbes' ForbesBLK, several staffed by ex-Protocol talent.
Why it mattersFresh, hungry outlets are easier to land than crowded mastheads. Newly launched verticals in SaaS, workplace and AI are prime early targets for founder and product pitches before their inboxes fill up.
Read moreSubstack
ai
AI is becoming both a standing newsroom beat and the dominant pitch angle
Reporters are moving onto or back onto AI (Rachel Metz at Bloomberg), publishers are launching AI products (Wired's Fast Forward), and AI-specific franchises are multiplying (Forbes AI 50, Business Insider AI-tools lists, Best Use of AI added to the Digiday Awards).
Why it mattersAn AI angle now has dedicated reporters and dedicated lists to aim at, but the volume of AI pitches is high, so the angle has to be specific and evidenced rather than a generic 'we use AI' claim.
Read moreSubstack
crypto
Fortune is doubling down on crypto editorial despite the FTX fallout
Fortune opened its first-ever Fortune Crypto 40 list, split across eight crypto categories with a high bar (VC firms need 35 crypto investments to qualify), after heavily building out its crypto editorial team. Meanwhile fintech-specific outlets are thinning, with Tearsheet flagged as one of the few strong fintech pubs left.
Why it mattersThere is still a credible masthead investing in crypto and fintech coverage, but with fewer specialist outlets the bar to feature is high, so crypto and payments stories need hard numbers and a genuinely differentiated case.
Read moreSubstack
ai
Newsrooms racing to staff dedicated AI beats and newsletters
Major outlets built out AI coverage in quick succession: Bloomberg grew its AI team to five reporters around Rachel Metz and added AI-ethics reporting, The Information launched AI Agenda by Stephanie Palazzolo after hiring her from Business Insider, Forbes added Danielle Chemtob's AI newsletter, and Business Insider ran its inaugural AI 100 list.
Why it mattersA widening set of named AI reporters actively wants expert sources such as founders, VCs and researchers, opening pitch lanes for AI-adjacent clients and useful cover for Pressto's own AI positioning. Offering a contrarian or ethics-of-AI POV is a way in while these beats are still forming.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Newsrooms tightening scrutiny of PR tactics around exclusives
The Information started naming PR firms in its coverage and publicly said Sunshine Sachs misled it after the firm moved up a New York Times announcement on Reed Jobs's new fund once The Information sought comment. The Verge, by contrast, publicised a detailed on-background policy.
Why it mattersEmbargo and exclusive handling now carries named reputational risk for agencies. Be disciplined about what you promise reporters and how you manage a second outlet that comes asking, because getting it wrong can land your agency's name in the story.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
The newswire model under pressure
X announced XWire to challenge Business Wire and PR Newswire, reflecting long-standing stagnation in the newswire category and appetite to let brands publish direct to their audiences rather than through traditional wires.
Why it mattersDirect-to-audience distribution and newswire disruption sits squarely in Pressto's territory. Worth tracking as both a competitive signal and a positioning angle for a modern PR platform.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Contributed content getting harder and shifting to reactive, author-led sourcing
Editors at TechCrunch, CNBC Make It, CNN Digital and Crunchbase News independently pushed shorter word counts (500 to 800), first-person actionable insight over thought leadership, and pitches or drafts from the author rather than the agency. Reporters increasingly run standing source forms (WSJ's Ann-Marie Alcantara) and solicit input publicly (LinkedIn News' Tanya Dua on year-ahead predictions).
Why it mattersOp-ed and expert-source strategy should move away from ghostwritten thought leadership and agency-sent blasts toward tight, author-voiced, reactive pitching that responds to what reporters have actually asked for.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Sustained layoff wave hollowing out major US newsrooms
Across late 2023 and early 2024, On Background tracked mass layoffs at Business Insider, LA Times, The Messenger, The Wall Street Journal, WIRED, Vox, TechCrunch, Engadget, Refinery29, Law360 and Thrillist, plus furloughs at Cheddar and cuts at The Washington Post and Rolling Stone. Whole desks (economics at WSJ, politics and tech across titles) were cut in single rounds.
Why it mattersMedia lists go stale fast. Verify a reporter is still employed before every pitch, and treat contact-data freshness as a core selling point for Pressto.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Reporters replacing the inbox with structured intake
WSJ, Digiday Work Life and TechCrunch began asking sources to complete 'source list' forms rather than field cold pitches, while the paid cold-pitch app House of Pitch (which promises a yes/no answer on every pitch) polarised journalists, embraced by a VentureBeat gaming reporter but generating spam complaints at Fortune.
Why it mattersPR workflows are shifting toward structured, permissioned pitching. Direct signal for how Pressto should route and qualify pitches to journalists.
Read moreSubstack
ai
AI dominates the awards, conference and coverage agenda
Recognition and speaking circuits went AI-first: VentureBeat Transform (enterprise generative AI, CEO Matt Marshall), Forbes AI 50, AI Breakthrough Awards, Digiday Technology Awards' Best AI Tool, and Business Insider's gen-AI creative agencies list. The Information (Jessica Lessin) named AI, batteries/EVs/cleantech and fintech as 2024 priorities and asked for specific angles rather than general AI takes.
Why it mattersGeneric AI messaging gets filtered out. Position clients and Pressto with specific, enterprise-grade AI angles tied to named use cases.
Read moreSubstack
fintech
Active fintech recognition and events circuit
Forbes Fintech 50 (pulled forward for the February print issue), Banking Tech Awards USA (hosted by Fintech Futures), Money20/20 Europe speaker calls and the merged Fintech Nexus x Fintech Meetup conference all sought entries and speakers across the period, several noting gender-balanced speaker requirements.
Why it mattersA steady stream of fintech award and stage opportunities exists for LaunchLink's fintech clients when the calls are live.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
New outlets and newsletters launch faster than legacy titles cut
Even as The Washington Post restructured, The Wall Street Journal and Conde Nast titles like Vanity Fair laid off staff, and KQED cut 34 roles and killed Rightnowish, a wave of new outlets launched: Robinhood's Sherwood News, Phil Rosen's Opening Bell Daily, Jacquelyn Melanie's Token Relations, Forbes' The Prompt, Tom Krazit's Runtime Roundtable, Digital Frontier, Proof News, and a relaunched LIFE Magazine from Karlie Kloss and Josh Kushner.
Why it mattersMore live pitch targets, many staffed by reporters with fresh inboxes and clear vertical remits. Worth building a running list of these launches for LaunchLink clients and framing Pressto around discovering new mastheads early.
Read moreSubstack
fintech
Finance and markets media is expanding across shows, podcasts and newsletters
Public expanded Public Media Network with Leading Indicator and The Brainstorm, TechCrunch added Rebecca Bellan, Becca Szkutak and Haje Kamps as Equity podcast co-hosts, Robinhood launched Sherwood News, Phil Rosen's Opening Bell Daily is syndicated in Inc, Yahoo News added a 10am markets show, and Anthony Pompliano's network keeps growing.
Why it mattersStrong opening for fintech, payments and crypto clients plus public-company execs who can speak to markets and earnings. Multiple outlets specifically want CFOs and public-company voices.
Read moreSubstack
ai
AI is both a fast-growing beat and a change to how newsrooms and PR teams work
The New York Times stood up an A.I. Initiatives Team building machine-assisted reporting tools, Forbes launched The Prompt to cover AI startups and deals, reporters like WSJ's Deepa Seetharaman and FT's Nicholas Fearn are sourcing AI-usage stories, and agency Six Eastern rolled out Perplexity Enterprise Pro company-wide for media research, fact-checking and angle brainstorming.
Why it mattersAI is a dependable news hook and a workflow shift. Clients with genuine AI use cases (especially in finance and wealth management) have named reporters actively looking, and PR teams themselves are adopting answer-engines for research and monitoring.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Source discovery is fragmenting after HARO's shutdown
HARO shut down and its original creator relaunched a free version called HERO (early days, consumer-leaning), while reporters increasingly gather sources through their own channels: WSJ's Deepa Seetharaman runs an opt-in mailing list and Fortune's Ask Andy and other desks use Google Forms.
Why it mattersNo single inbox to watch any more. Sign up to individual reporters' source lists and monitor Google Form callouts rather than relying on one aggregator. A clear product gap Pressto can speak to.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Print is quietly making a comeback
Digital Frontier published its first print edition, legacy brands Nylon, Life and Saveur relaunched print versions this spring, and Karlie Kloss and Josh Kushner are relaunching LIFE Magazine.
Why it mattersPremium print placements are back on the table for brand-led clients. Too early to call it a durable trend, but worth watching which titles sustain print beyond a launch issue.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Relentless newsroom churn keeps media lists out of date
Inside a few months: Axios laid off reporters including Kia Kokalitcheva, Forbes ran a fresh round of writer layoffs, and three high-profile Politico journalists left (Alex Ward to The Wall Street Journal, plus Jack Shafer and Burgess Everett). Alongside the exits, formats shifted: Bloomberg Businessweek moved from weekly to monthly with four new sections, WIRED launched a Travel vertical, and Fortune launched a Next to Lead leadership newsletter.
Why it mattersVerify every contact before pitching and refresh lists constantly; the new verticals (WIRED Travel, Fortune Next to Lead, Bloomberg Businessweek's Pursuits and In Context) are fresh doors to pitch into.
Read moreSubstack
ai
AI coverage is shifting from product hype to power and profitability
Business Insider recut its AI 100 list around 'who wields real power in AI' rather than seeking nominees, TechCrunch's Kyle Wiggers said he wants companies actually making money that are fully built on AI, and Forbes' Alex Konrad said reporting new AI products no longer cuts it. The event calendar is stacked with AI (Gen AI Summit Silicon Valley, ODSC West, the Autonomous Innovation Summit).
Why it mattersFor Pressto and AI-adjacent clients, pitch AI angles anchored in real revenue and genuine influence, not feature launches; growth-and-new-product framing is now a fast route to being ignored.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
VCs are building owned media and gatekeeping funding news behind exclusives
A Milltown Partners analysis of the 2024 Forbes Midas List found 61% of firms run their own newsletter, 32% an active YouTube channel and 30% a podcast, and fewer than half of listed investors did a podcast last year. New VC-run newsletters keep appearing, such as Headline's No GPs Allowed from Zehra Naqvi. Meanwhile Fortune Term Sheet's Allie Garfinkle will only run a fund or funding announcement if it is exclusive.
Why it mattersFunding PR now needs an exclusive-first strategy and an awareness that VCs increasingly reach founders and LPs directly through their own channels, so pitching the VC's newsletter or podcast can matter as much as pitching the trade press.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Star reporters are unbundling from mastheads into their own newsletters
A steady exit of named journalists to independent and niche newsletters: Taylor Lorenz left the Washington Post for her own tech-use newsletter, Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal is spinning up an Odd Lots newsletter as Five Things closes, Forbes' Alex Knapp launched The Prototype, and Eric Newcomer's Substack has become a leading VC outlet clearing over $2m in revenue. Turpentine's Free Agency now tracks the moves themselves, and the Substack ethos is 'niche is the new scale', roughly 9,000 die-hard fans over mass reach.
Why it mattersThe people worth pitching are increasingly reachable direct, not via a masthead desk. For Pressto's contact database and for LaunchLink outreach, individual writers and their newsletters are becoming primary targets, and a warm relationship with one influential newsletter can outperform a scattergun to a shrinking newsroom.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Paywalls and micro-subscriptions are spreading across mainstream outlets
Reuters added a $1-a-week digital subscription, CNN moved to $3.99 a month for power readers, and the New York Times paywalled the back catalogue of its biggest podcasts including The Daily, The Ezra Klein Show, Hard Fork and Modern Love. Cheap entry points are the tactic, but free reach is narrowing.
Why it mattersEarned coverage sits behind more paywalls, so the shareable free window for a client win is shrinking. Worth factoring into how coverage is measured and amplified, and a reason to prize outlets and formats (newsletters, podcasts, broadcast) where the audience still reaches the story without paying.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
The PR-to-journalist imbalance is reshaping who gets covered
There are now far more funded startups and PR people than reporters to cover them. The view from VC trade media is that companies raising $100m probably should hire PR, but there is no longer the media apparatus to meet them, so pitches on funding rounds vastly outnumber the stories that can run. The suggested fix is funding more techno-optimist niche outlets rather than chasing a shrinking pool of generalist reporters.
Why it mattersFor LaunchLink this raises the bar: exclusives, genuine angles and reporter relationships beat volume, and mid-size clients may get more traction from niche trade newsletters than from tier-one desks. For Pressto it validates the product thesis, smart matching and relationship intelligence matter precisely because the inbox-to-reporter ratio keeps worsening.
Read moreSubstack
ai
Business media are standing up dedicated AI franchises
Business desks are building AI-specific interview series and newsletters: Quartz launched AI Factor, a weekly video series filmed at the Nasdaq MarketSite on AI in business, the Wall Street Journal's Ben Fritz is launching an AI and business newsletter, and Forbes' Alex Knapp's The Prototype covers emerging technology. CNBC's Ryan Browne is described as a sucker for how the biggest tech firms actually apply emerging technologies.
Why it mattersThere are fresh, named pitch lanes for AI and enterprise-tech leaders, though several (Quartz AI Factor, CNBC) skew to established leaders and companies with real scale rather than early-stage startups. Useful mapping for any AI-adjacent client and for stocking Pressto's outlet and journalist data with these new franchises.
Read moreSubstack
fintech
Appetite for money and personal-finance human stories is rising
Money storytelling is a growing editorial franchise: CNBC Make It launched Millennial Money (host Ashton Jackson) on how people at different income levels earn, spend and save, Business Insider's relaunched Day in the Life of series wants CEOs to share revenue and headcount numbers, and Bloomberg's new weekend edition explores where finance, life and culture meet.
Why it mattersA clear opening for fintech and personal-finance angles built around real people and hard numbers rather than product features. Founders or experts willing to be transparent about money are exactly what these desks are asking for, a useful angle for any payments or personal-finance client and a pitch lane to log in Pressto.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Earned media is getting harder: funding fatigue and political noise
Reporters at Forbes (Steve Bertoni, Alex Konrad), Axios (Dan Primack, Eleanor Hawkins) and TechCrunch (Connie Loizos) are deprioritising early-stage and seed funding stories in favour of revenue and traction, and warn the US political environment will crowd out traditional business coverage while forcing comms teams to handle stakeholder-sensitive issues. Getting multi-outlet coverage without an exclusive is treated as almost a fluke.
Why it mattersFintech and startup clients pitching funding news need hard metrics and a sharper 'why now'; LaunchLink should steer them toward traction and impact angles, and Pressto can guide users to lead with numbers rather than round size.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Expert commentary and relationship-first outreach beating thought leadership
Practitioners like Daly's Hailey Murphy are prioritising stacked expert-commentary mentions (which put OLLY in Fortune and Dutch in CNBC Select), no-agenda emails off broad Google Alerts, and lighter Qwoted tactics over traditional thought leadership, while exec-move news stays near-impossible to place outside niche columns like Axios Communicators, Healthcare Brew's On Rotation and Fierce Healthcare's Chutes & Ladders.
Why it mattersA cheap, repeatable playbook to build spokespeople profiles for LaunchLink clients and a workflow Pressto could productise for users without big-name experts.
Read moreSubstack
ai
AI is the beat editors most want pitched
Fortune's Sharon Goldman is actively seeking AI stories on business impact, regulation and societal change and wants to connect with deep AI experts; LinkedIn's Tanya Dua wants AI's workforce implications; Time's 100 Most Innovative Companies added AI Impact Awards; and The Sunday Times Magazine ran a feature on AI in care homes built out from a single business pitch.
Why it mattersFraming client stories through concrete AI business and workforce impacts lifts them across desks, and Pressto's own AI positioning is squarely on-trend with what these reporters are asking for.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Winning UK national coverage is about desk fit and timing, not volume
Editor interviews and worked examples show broadsheets (The Times, Telegraph, Guardian) ration news pages so features and weekend supplements are the realistic way in; tabloid money desks (The Sun, Daily Mail) want crunched-numbers case studies not opinion polls; awareness-day pegs raise competition without more space; and personal stories land when hooked to breaking news such as the Birth Trauma Inquiry.
Why it mattersA direct pitching playbook for LaunchLink's UK work and for Pressto guidance features: match the story to the right desk and time it to a live news hook rather than blasting volume.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
UK newsroom contraction is rewriting how PR reaches reporters
Deep cost-cutting and remote work have left UK national reporters busier and harder to reach. The Mail group, The Sun, the Mirror and the Express and People titles have scrapped office landlines, remaining phones go unanswered, and daily and Sunday papers hold tighter conference schedules that create narrow pitching windows. Phone pitching is effectively over and timing is everything.
Why it mattersPitches for Pressto and LaunchLink clients must be email-first, tightly timed to each masthead's conference schedule, and built as ready-to-run stories rather than concepts. This is also a core selling point for Pressto's timing and contact intelligence.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Commerce and affiliate monetisation is becoming a media gatekeeper
Publications increasingly require affiliate commission arrangements before featuring products in roundups, with affiliate managers who sit outside editorial now the key contacts alongside commerce editors. Coupon sites like Honey and Coupon Cabin siphon credit for PR-driven sales. Cheaper distribution routes such as Industry Dive's DiveWire at $289 are undercutting traditional newswires.
Why it mattersConsumer-facing clients now need an affiliate strategy sitting beside earned media, and PR advice should flag that product coverage may carry a commercial cost. Distribution budgets can stretch further with newer, cheaper channels.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Consolidation up top, fragmentation into niche verticals below
The Industry Dive portfolio is merging with TechTarget into Informa TechTarget, while niche verticals and newsletters proliferate: CNBC's new wealth unit with Julia Boorstin on women's leadership and Robert Frank on family offices, Punchbowl News's technology newsletter under Ben Brody, Boldstart Ventures' FastForward under ex-TechCrunch reporter Ron Miller, and The Profile's bootstrapping series 'Built From Scratch' by Polina Pompliano.
Why it mattersMedia lists are shifting under LaunchLink's feet. VC-backed and vertical newsletters are new, reachable homes for founder and executive profiles, and reporters are moving in and out of these outlets fast, so contact data needs constant refreshing.
Read moreSubstack
ai
AI is the pitch magnet across nearly every desk
Reporters across unrelated beats are actively soliciting AI angles: CNBC Make It's Morgan Smith on AI prompt engineers, CNN's Clare Duffy on AI and dating, Business Insider's Amanda Hoover on ecommerce SMBs using AI, and WIRED's Emily Mullin on exclusive new biotech companies and technologies.
Why it mattersAn AI hook materially raises the odds of coverage for LaunchLink clients, and Pressto itself has a natural AI story. Any client with a credible, specific AI use case should be packaged for these open callouts.
Read moreSubstack
fintech
Fintech media coverage is rebuilding its bench
Senior fintech reporter Mary Ann Azevedo has returned to TechCrunch and is open to pitches, reporters are soliciting fintech industry predictions, and programmes like the Fintech Breakthrough Awards continue to run. Fintech beats are being re-staffed after a quieter period.
Why it mattersFintech and payments clients have a re-energised reporter to target at TechCrunch and clearer named contacts to build relationships with early.
Read moreSubstack
media pr
Named reporters are leaving legacy mastheads for Substack, and exclusivity is becoming the price of coverage.
CNN anchor Jim Acosta left the network for The Jim Acosta Show on Substack and quickly hit 100K subscribers; NYT Opinion writer Paul Krugman left to write full-time on Substack with 200K-plus followers; the White House opened press credentials to Substack writers and other creators. In parallel, TechCrunch now tells reporters like Mary Ann Azevedo to prioritise funding rounds exclusive to TC over raises 20 outlets are running.
Why it mattersPitch targets are fragmenting away from institutional mastheads toward individual journalist-led channels, and offering a true exclusive matters more than blanket distribution. Build media lists around named reporters and their newsletters, and lead with exclusivity.
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media pr
The straight executive profile is dying; outlets want side-hustle framing, founder backstory and hard traction instead.
Publicists report CEO and executive profiles largely no longer place, pushing leaders and staff into dedicated side-hustle columns at CNBC Make It, Entrepreneur (Amanda Breen), Business Insider and Inc's new Out of Office series. At the same time TechCrunch (Mary Ann Azevedo) and Fortune (Allie Garfinkle, Term Sheet) will only bite on a raise with a compelling protagonist plus real numbers.
Why it mattersFor Pressto and LaunchLink spokespeople, a bare 'meet our founder' angle is dead on arrival. Position leaders around an origin story, a personal side project, or absolute growth figures, and match the reporter's format.
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ai
AI coverage is saturated, so desks now want measurable impact, named use cases and local relevance rather than ideas.
AI dominated the editorial and awards calendar (Newsweek AI Impact Awards demanding measurable results, Forbes AI 50, Digiday and Adweek AI Trailblazers), and reporters are hunting specific use cases: Marty Swant at Digiday wants adtech sources training LLMs, The Stack is sourcing contributed AI pieces, and Tasmin Lockwood wants real people using AI note-taking apps. Emma Wilkinson will only take AI angles that are UK-relevant.
Why it mattersGeneric AI claims will not cut through. Pitch AI stories with a named customer, a measurable outcome and, for UK trade desks, clear local relevance.
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media pr
Legacy tech and business newsrooms are shrinking and reshuffling while star reporters spin up their own media brands.
Yahoo sold TechCrunch to private equity firm Regent, and TechCrunch had already killed its TechCrunch+ paywall and op-eds. The Washington Post split and merged its national, politics, business, tech, health, science and climate desks. The Wall Street Journal laid off much of its tech bench, including reporters Asa Fitch, Aaron Tilley, Alexa Corse, Miles Kruppa, Tom Dotan and Sarah Needleman and editors Ben Fritz, Jason Dean, Eric Bellman, Tom Gryta and Liz Wollman. At the same time independents are launching: Alex Konrad's Upstarts Media (ex-Forbes), Paul Sawers' Forkable (ex-TechCrunch), Morning Brew's Out There and Fast Company's Brand New World.
Why it mattersMedia contacts are churning fast. Keep relationships current as reporters move to newsletters and podcasts, and treat the new independent brands as live pitch targets rather than waiting for legacy mastheads.
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media pr
As newsrooms thin, the PR-journalist relationship is getting harder around embargoes, links and follow-through.
WSJ reporters such as Berber Jin will not take embargoed funding announcements, so an exclusive is the only route. Reporters increasingly cannot control backlinks, with production and SEO teams deciding, and Reach PLC restricting its journalists to affiliate links only. Ghosting after a commission is more common as editors do more with fewer staff, and the fix is a fresh hook rather than repeated chasing.
Why it mattersReset expectations with clients on embargoes and links, lead with exclusives over embargoes for the WSJ and similar, and keep a bank of fresh hooks ready to revive stalled pitches.
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ai
AI is now the default pitch currency across podcasts, awards and events, and the bar is concrete metrics not thought leadership.
AI-only podcasts are actively booking, including AI in Business (Daniel Faggella), High Agency (Raza Habib of Humanloop) and The GTM Podcast (Scott Barker of GTMfund), all of which want shipped products and hard numbers. AI-specific programmes have multiplied, including the Digiday AI Awards, The AI Conference, Axios AI+ Summits and The Information's Financing the AI Revolution, alongside dedicated AI editorial roles like the WSJ AI editor and Fast Company's Brand New World.
Why it mattersAI pitches now need ROI, ARR and deployment numbers and a live product, not vision. Position spokespeople around what they have actually shipped and quantified to clear the bar these hosts and judges set.
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media pr
Name-brand reporters are leaving mastheads to run reader-supported newsletters and media brands.
A wave of known reporters now run their own subscription publications: Alex Konrad left Forbes for Upstarts Media, Eric Newcomer runs Newcomer, Business Insider founder Henry Blodget launched Regenerator, Alistair Barr is starting BI's Tech Memo, TechCrunch's Dominic Midori Davis runs The Black Cat, and Polina Pompliano runs The Profile. These outlets publish little and source ideas from engaged readers.
Why it mattersCoverage is shifting from pitching a masthead to building a relationship with an individual who sources from their community. PR needs to engage as a subscriber first and bring exclusive, high-signal stories rather than cold blasts.
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media pr
Digital PR is split between mass SEO link-building and targeted quality coverage.
BrightonSEO-style tactics push page-ready releases and Reach PLC syndication to maximise pickups and backlinks, while working journalists argue this generates irrelevant coverage that never reaches real customers. A Coventry gym linked from an Irish national title and releases run verbatim across the Reach network are held up as hollow 'wins'.
Why it mattersCoverage should be judged on audience fit and reputation, not raw pickup counts. For Pressto and clients this is a positioning angle: measure the right placements in the right niche or local titles over a hundred syndicated links.
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