Recent Research

Updated Jun. 22, 2020 -- Few things are tougher than building a useful list of reporters who cover funding rounds. Technically, any beat reporter could cover funding news based on the startup being a contender in an emerging marketplace. But PR folks mostly seek reporters who cover funding rounds from any VC in any market -- as they should.

We’re only halfway into 2020 and it's already clear that this year is one of the most transformative years for media, business communications, and PR. Companies of all sizes are struggling to connect effectively with employees and the public on major issues like COVID-19 and the protests against police brutality.

If you're looking for backdoors into Tier 1, you might try some of the virtual events we list in our new cheat sheet. Most events are scheduled on an ad hoc basis, so that won't make it easy. Still, since so few PR pros know about these opps, your chances are decent.

What exactly do readers want? It depends on the publication, of course... and it also depends on the segment. Here's a simple diagram that you might find useful when shaping your narratives.

Tier 1 publishers can't do much to generate traffic to their home pages, or to get other sites to link to their articles -- but there's a ton they can do to drive traffic from search and social media. Using data from SimilarWeb, we explore which Tier 1 sites excel at it, and which don't. Tailor your pitch strategy accordingly.