Launched in 1843, The Economist has been around longer than public relations itself. For those who pitch stories, it remains as daunting as Kilimanjaro. Yet many executives insist on climbing it. What is PR to do? The publication doesn’t even offer bylines.
The Economist this week fielded a reader survey that revealed where the 176-year-old publication might be headed. By contemplating the survey questions, PR pros stand to learn much about the Economist’s goals specifically, and also about Tier 1 editorial values in general.
Having been around since 1843, The Economist has a finely honed instinct for survival. The newspaper’s current editorial custodians, led by EIC Zanny Minton Beddoes, lately sense disturbing shifts in politics, economics and society. These shifts, The Economist believes, bode ill — perhaps for the newspaper itself.
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
Here’s how Mike Isaac presents himself. A single perfunctory paragraph doesn’t cut it anymore in a world of disinformation and synthetic, AI-generated content where no one really knows the agenda. The NYT wants to get out in front of that, especially before the 2024 elections heat up. Read the background behind this in Vanity Fair.
Legendary journalist Louise Story reveals how the smartest edit shops are using AI. Here come the flexicles.
Sara Fischer of Axios nails another scoop: Time is merging its Time Ideas section into a new one, called Time100 Voices. It doesn’t promise big opportunity for tech PR — it aims so high that only the Benioffs and Nadellas stand a chance.
Recent research from Semrush, a data partner of ours, reveals the most searched societal issues based on average monthly Google searches between January 2019 and June 2023, and how they rank across 35 countries. Searches related to mental health are skyrocketing.
It is now called AI Time To Impact, and if you care about what’s real in AI and when we need to care about it, AI Time To impact is a must-read.
Says Digiday today: 40 percent of Gen Z uses TikTok or Instagram when searching for lunch recommendations. The younger you go, the tighter the grip held by platforms. Musk’s calculation that few will ever leave X might not be too far off in the long run.
