Earned media has been relied upon more than ever to help brands and governments get their messages to their audiences, with trust in traditional and established media channels, including government agency website, surging and social networks deemed unreliable.

The ‘Impact of Covid-19 on earned media’ report carried out by Kantar revealed a renewed confidence in institutional media and encouraged PR professionals to communicate via reliable mainstream media in order to maintain authority and credibility during the Covid-19 crisis.

One of the quickest changes picked up by the report is the digital transition of media, whereby there has been an incremental increase of digital initiatives and innovations, with new editorial formats, live streaming, and data visualisations. The challenge now is for media brands to respond to new behaviours like use of smartphones or consumption of non-linear information, while still retaining the digital audiences gained during quarantine. This will be the same for the PR industry, which will have to acknowledge the complexity of digitalisation so to adjust to it and use it as an advantage, the report says.

Besides an overall increase in media consumption, especially on a digital level, the Kantar research also points out that media brands have given more important to values and virtues, highlighting positive initiatives and complying with the role of public utility. This focus on communication based on authenticity and search for meaning will be fundamental for the PR community as well.