It’s almost September 2026. Space X went public. Pope Leo XIV mentioned AI in his first encyclical. America turned 250. Odysseus really should have traveled the OG route home. There was an abundance of sports to watch (Knicks in 5, World Cup, Olympics). Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift finally tied the knot. And we can’t eat lettuce.

Looking back on December 2025, we might have never predicted that any of the above would happen. But it did – and turns out, so did a lot of our predictions. In lieu of back to school season and looking ahead to 2027 in a few short months, we’re taking a look at our 2026 predictions to see what came true and what we’re still waiting on.

So, how’d we do? Grab your No. 2 pencils — it’s grading time! Some predictions get the gold star treatment (looking at you, orbital datacenters). Others are in B/B- territory, waiting to see if they turn in their work before the year’s out. Here’s the full breakdown:

Overall GPA: A solid B+, not bad for a class that had to predict the future. See you in December for finals!

The communications industry has changed dramatically in just the last few years. Attention that once concentrated around a handful of major outlets is now scattered across a sprawling ecosystem of traditional, new, and social media. Newsrooms are shrinking while the volume of announcements is increasing. Meanwhile, AI is reshaping both our strategic recommendations and the way we get our work done.

The modern communications landscape rewards speed, adaptability, creativity, and human insight above all else. And yet, here we are – still doing RFPs.

At the risk of sounding arrogant or dismissive, many of the RFPs we’ve seen (and declined) since our start in 2017 reflect outdated thinking, bloated processes, and unnecessary formality. In nearly a decade of doing business, we’ve worked with Fortune 500 companies, AI unicorns raising multi-billion-dollar rounds, and some of the fastest-growing startups in tech. Almost none of those relationships started with an RFP.

The following are examples of RFP asks we’ve come across recently:

• Create a 360° communications strategy to announce [insert fundraise/product launch/some other milestone here].

• Give us 3 compelling campaign ideas and how you would execute each one.

• Share a list of 20-25 media relationships that you already have that could benefit [insert company]. Include name, outlet, focus area, and your pitch for our company.

• What specific outcomes can we expect in the first 90 days with our budget?

We ultimately decided not to participate in the agency selection process with these companies, not because we didn’t want to work with them, but because the questions themselves did not represent the start of a productive partnership.

Why RFPs suck

A great agency partner rarely emerges from filling out templated procurement documents or responding to general prompts. And it definitely doesn’t come from narrow, prescriptive exercises based on hypothetical scenarios and arbitrary KPIs. Most of the time, agencies don’t even have the context required to produce informed recommendations. The real nuances of a business don’t emerge until trust is built and the agency is embedded inside the business.

What matters about an agency is not whether they can expertly respond to an RFP or list their media relationships, but whether they can think strategically, adapt quickly, and demonstrate a track record of delivering meaningful results for companies like yours. Pricing models can be adjusted. Measurement frameworks can – and honestly, should – evolve. But strategic instinct and chemistry fit are the factors that actually determine whether a partnership succeeds.

To be clear, we understand what RFPs are trying to accomplish. The intention is usually to assess an agency’s thinking, not to get access to a free, fully developed PR plan. But that’s exactly the point: if you really want to understand how a PR leader, consultancy, or agency thinks, you are better off having conversations than reviewing deliverables based on hypotheticals and limited context. Because one of the most important ingredients in a successful agency-client relationship is something an RFP can’t meaningfully measure: chemistry.

Vibes over vendors

Most RFPs treat PR agencies like vendors, right up there with IT providers and CRM systems. But your communications partner is not just another vendor. They are an extension of your team – responsible for shaping perception, protecting reputation, advising executives, and helping define the narrative of your company.

The better analogy for an agency search is recruiting. When companies hire senior internal talent, they don’t issue a 40-page RFP asking candidates to develop unpaid strategic plans before the first conversation. They assess judgment, chemistry, experience, communication style, and values. The process is human, dynamic and conversational.

Agency selection should work the same way.

Without a doubt, our strongest and most enduring client relationships began with nothing more than a vibe check and a conversation. The reason is simple: these clients prioritized chemistry and strategic alignment over performative pitching. From day one, the relationships felt collaborative rather than transactional. They began with mutual curiosity, shared philosophies, and honest dialogue – the foundation for a trusted partnership.

Agency selection for the modern era

In the time it takes to make our way through the RFP process, we could have already landed you your first win. There’s a better way – and we know it works.

We’d like to see the agency selection process run more like this:

Step 1: 30-minute intake call + chemistry check

• Client: Share an overview of the company, upcoming milestones, PR pain points, and business goals.

• Agency: Provide an introduction to the agency’s approach, brief overview of relevant experience, and initial reactions or thoughts.

If there’s chemistry and alignment…

Step 2: The high-level proposal

• Agency: Send a proposal with some initial thinking and what it costs, so there’s a clear understanding of budget range and engagement structure based on the client’s needs. As part of this deliverable, share the agency’s philosophy on media strategy, relevant case studies, and how the team operates as partners – because those things matter more than speculative campaign ideas.

Step 3: Live discussion + brainstorm (1 hour)

In a meeting, either discuss the ideas and approach together, or better yet:

• Client: Bring a few real discussion topics to the table. Executive platform development. Product launches. Narrative positioning. Broadcast strategy. Whatever the priorities may be. Bring key stakeholders if possible – rapport with leadership matters, and building that trust early sets the tone for the relationship.

• Agency: Demonstrate how the agency team thinks in real time. Do you understand the business? Can you connect dots quickly? Can you pull relevant insights from past campaigns or adjacent industries? Do you bring energy, curiosity, and conviction to the conversation? Can you think on your feet?

Step 4: Final diligence

If the agency is still in the running…

• Agency: In order to save time for everyone, provide in-depth client testimonials addressing all of the burning questions (What are they like as partners? Is there enough senior support? Have they delivered results?) along with a sample of work. If those aren’t sufficient or the client needs more information, provide 1-2 client references upon request.

After all is said and done, this is a process that takes days – not weeks or months.

The agencies best positioned to thrive in this next era will not necessarily be the ones with the slickest pitch decks or most thorough RFP response. They’ll be the ones capable of moving quickly, thinking creatively, and building trust fast.

This is why we’re saying No to RFPs. Not because we’re unwilling to do the work, but because we believe there’s a smarter, more modern way to start partnerships.

Oftentimes in PR, you need to adapt to changing trends and emerging news cycles – and think on the fly.

So rather than provide some of our more polished advice and thoughts, we thought it helpful to offer the kinds of counsel we’ve given founders and colleagues of late, in response to fast-changing scenarios. These are just snapshots of our recent thinking, with some going against conventional PR wisdom, which is the point here at SBS Comms.

And literal thinkers beware: This isn’t a playbook. We’re making judgment calls in real time, depending on the client, the moment, and the market. That’s the job.

Pitching: less is more

While a four-paragraph pitch chock-full of background info, splashy adjectives, and real-world examples is fun to write, please reconsider. Reporters are busy and (rightfully) allergic to anything that sounds like marketing. They often know the subject matter backward and forward and don’t need public data on their beat. Their inboxes are packed with pitches, so they simply won’t have the time (or interest) to read one that drones on and on… and on.

The best format is direct and helpful. What’s happening? Why is it new and important? What access are you offering? And we like to take a step back and ask ourselves: What information would I need to have right now to respond to this note? A reporter will likely know within the first 1-2 sentences if it’s something they’re interested in. Anything beyond that is fluff that can be saved for an interview.

Measure quality, not quantity

Most of what gets measured in the industry is theater: placement counts, share of voice by volume, and estimated readership numbers. These often are posturing metrics, and they incentivize teams to optimize for incidental mentions and filler coverage.

Impactful PR is coverage that moves a buying decision, a hiring pipeline, community engagement, or investor sentiment. We’d rather land a client in one story that their top customer or core audience reads, than spray and pray.

Reporters often are the brand. Pitch the person.

As we all know, the media landscape is changing fast, and we must adapt. Traditional print has been navigating long-term shifts, independent newsletters + Substacks are gaining momentum, and many newsrooms are adapting to leaner teams.

Reporters often operate as creators inside existing frameworks, and build audiences on LinkedIn, Substack, X, Instagram – the list goes on. This can change a pitch: for some reporters, you’re offering content for their personal brand and interests. The companies that ditch the mindset of “since this is Bloomberg, they’ll take this story because X”, have an advantage that builds over time. To succeed here, you need to get to know someone, understand if they enjoy talking to CEOs, for example, or if it’s largely product leads.

It may seem tedious, but really it’s a thoughtful effort and consideration for another person. Reporters take their work seriously and care about what they’re writing. We should aim to honor that. The more we pour effort into the right buckets, like understanding individual journalists, the more everyone benefits.

It’s not a pitch. It’s slop.

Bloomberg journalist Joe Weisenthal recently noted that he pays special attention to pitches when the sender takes care and time – and doesn’t just use AI. While it’s fine to tap AI to edit and help research info for a pitch, relying on it to draft from soup to nuts misses the point of customizing outreach. It also has tells that are cringe, such as hackneyed adjectives (“the real value” – as opposed to the fake value?), dramatic sentence structure, the em dash, and the it’s not…it’s construction (see our subhead). So when pitching, be that human in the loop.

Social followings often trump UVMs

We’re not going to name names, but some legacy outlets fall short when promoting their stories on social. That’s a problem when you’re trying to make a splash, and it should factor into any outreach strategy – particularly for a funding round or major milestone. If an outlet buries stories behind paywalls and doesn’t promote, it’s worth considering smaller publications that push harder on X and other platforms. Those tend to be new media spots where authors are digitally native and know how to amplify their own work.

Move fast in a crisis

If a crisis hits, stay mindful and vigilant, and we recommend publishing a holding statement as soon as you can. The habit of getting something out before the nightly news clearly doesn’t fly in the age of social media. A statement doesn’t need to have all the answers. It really just needs to establish that you know, you care, and more is coming. And write it like a human, not a corporate flak.

The first instinct for any customer, consumer, or impacted party is to check a company’s social platforms and website. All they want to know immediately is: what happened, and is this being actively addressed. Journalists will do the same, but they’ll also start hitting your inboxes; here, a public statement gives you a timely response that mitigates fears, confusion, and animosity at the gate. Then you use the real race time to fully address the issue and share timely updates.

Pro tip: build the muscle ahead of time. Hit the “gym” and have templates pre-drafted, the escalation chain mapped, and the spokesperson reachable.

Don’t be overly polished

The most valuable traits a spokesperson can bring to a media interview are authenticity, transparency, and presence. Keep in mind what you truly can’t say in the conversation, but genuinely engage and don’t be afraid to go off-script (within reason). The more you can stay true to your conversation style and quirks, the more a reporter will pick up on that and come back for more. Reporters and booking producers like subjects who bring color and personality, and tend to keep them in their rolodex.

Awards aren’t the strategy

Industry awards are a great notch in the belt and an internal confidence booster, as well as a solid recruitment tool. They are not, however, the north star for thought leadership success. Honestly, reporters don’t care if you’ve been named to an industry-leading list. So be strategic about applying, and as a rule, don’t mention recent wins in pitches.

What started in 2020 as a side project between two friends has turned into one of the most trusted and candid conversations in tech. 14 seasons in, with 130+ guests on the roster, and ranking as the number 4 technology podcast on Apple Podcasts globally, The Room Podcast has carved out a very specific lane: getting founders and operators to drop the polished narrative and talk about what really happened when they started out building their companies.

At SBS, we’ve been big fans since early on, not just as listeners, but as partners bringing great voices into the mix. Clients like Flexport, Cloudflare, Loyal, and Chime, among many others have joined The Room, and what’s always stood out is how intentional Claudia and Madison are about the conversation: It always goes beyond the surface.

A lot of that comes from their dynamic, founder + funder/operator + investor relationship, which lets them push on both the emotional side of building, and the decision-making behind it. You see it in the kinds of questions they ask (questions without clean answers), and how open guests are in return.

So with Season 14 kicking off and a lot to unpack around AI, second acts, and how companies are actually being built right now, we’re thrilled to dig in on what’s next for them. Let’s get into it.

Five questions with… Claudia Laurie & Madison McIlwain

Q: Congratulations on heading into Season 14 of The Room Podcast! What are some of the themes or guests your listeners can look forward to this season?!

Claudia: Season 14 really centers around how AI is reshaping how companies are actually built and operated… not just the surface-level “AI is changing everything,” but what that looks like in practice. We’re spending a lot of time with founders who are rethinking core functions like marketing, customer support, and product from first principles. We also continue to lean into more candid founder journeys – moments of doubt, pivots, and the less polished parts of building. Some of my favorite conversations this season are the ones where guests say they have never told a particular story before.

Madison: Season 14 spotlights founders navigating big second acts and market inflection points.The season is about zero-to-IPO (or exit) journeys in a world where AI, community, and GTM are all being rewritten in real time. This season, listeners can look forward to:

• Founder “comebacks” at iconic companies

  • The Nextdoor CEO, returning to lead the company reimagining neighborhood and community in the age of AI

  • Ring founder Jamie Siminoff, now back leading Ring at Amazon, where physical and digital community, and physical intelligence, meet

• Where tech, regulation, and AI collide

  • Deep dives with legal tech and adjacent founders on how AI is reshaping workflows, risk, and what it takes to build in highly regulated spaces

• A rare, inside look at an acquisition Metronome’s founder, on selling to Stripe, the emotional and strategic reality of exiting in this market, and how founders should really think about liquidity.

Q: You bring a rare “founder and funder” dynamic to the show – Claudia, you co-founded and ran Prive (which was acquired by Recurly), and Madison, you were a seed-stage partner at Defy VC before heading to Harvard Business School. How has having real skin in the game on both sides shaped the kinds of conversations you’re able to pull out of guests?

Claudia: Having been a founder, I’m pretty aware of how easy it is to make a story sound clean in hindsight. But that version usually isn’t that useful. What I try to get to in conversations is what actually happened: the messy middle, the things that didn’t work, the decisions that were unclear at the time. That’s where the real insight is. There’s also a level of empathy that changes the dynamic. Founders open up more when they feel like you understand the emotional side of building, not just the outcomes.

Madison: From the investing side, I’m always listening for decision-making frameworks: how someone thinks, not just what they did. Our founder-founder combination works because we’re coming at the same story from two angles: Claudia is often pulling out the lived experience, and I’m trying to distill the underlying pattern or insight. That duality usually leads to more interesting conversations. I love how today we have some hero questions that really get to the heart of these dynamics. When I ask the founder about “the first person who said yes to investing in you?” It makes sense. When Claudia asks them, “what was a time when things didn’t go up and to the right?” The founder already trusts her authentic perspective as a founder and is willing to open up that much more because of the trust we’ve built together in the room.

Q: From a comms and PR perspective: what does a great guest pitch to The Room actually look like? What gets you to say yes, and what are the most common mistakes PR people make when reaching out?

Madison: The best pitches feel like they actually know the show. They reference a specific episode or theme and explain why their founder would add something new to that conversation.

The fastest way to get a no is a generic pitch that could’ve been sent to 50 podcasts. We’re really protective of the audience’s time, so we’re always asking: what will someone learn from this that they can’t get elsewhere?

Claudia: I’d add that clarity matters a lot. A great pitch makes it immediately obvious what the unique insight is. Whether that’s a contrarian take, a specific playbook, or a story that hasn’t been told before. A common mistake is over-indexing on credentials instead of substance. An impressive resume is table stakes; we care much more about whether someone has a sharp, differentiated perspective.

Q: The Room has grown well beyond the feed – you’ve built a real IRL community with events in cities across the country and your annual Inside Summit. At your second annual Summit last fall, “high taste” in the age of AI was a standout theme. What does that concept mean to you both, and what does truly exceptional attention to detail look like right now, whether that’s in infrastructure and architecture decisions or consumer product design?

Madison: As AI makes it easier to produce more, “high taste” becomes the filter. It’s about knowing what not to build, what not to ship, what not to say. The core idea is that when creation becomes effortless, discernment becomes the scarce resource. AI slop is what happens when you optimize for volume over judgment, it looks right but doesn’t make anyone feel anything.

Fashion actually lived this already. When industrialization democratized clothing, the market split: Zara won on efficiency, Hermès won on accumulated craft and taste. Luxury didn’t survive commodification; it flourished because of it.

The same split is happening in software right now. For infrastructure, exceptional attention to detail means having an opinion; such as opinionated defaults, considered developer experience, deployment patterns that reflect years of accumulated judgment. That’s not just capability, it’s taste encoded into the foundation. And taste compounds. Every intentional decision builds on the last in a way that becomes genuinely hard to replicate. I wrote more on this here.

Claudia: I think of high taste as judgment under abundance. When everyone has access to the same tools, the differentiator becomes taste… what you choose to prioritize, how you sequence decisions, and how disciplined you are.

In both infrastructure and consumer products, the best teams right now are the ones that pair speed with restraint. They can move quickly, but they’re incredibly selective about where they spend that velocity.

Q Beyond your own show, what are you consuming? What podcasts, newsletters, or media are you both paying attention to right now?

Madison: We’ve been really enjoying what Alex Konrad is building with Upstarts Media. It’s one of the few places that consistently surfaces what’s actually happening with emerging companies in a thoughtful way.

Acquired is an evergreen for me. The depth and storytelling are just in a different league, and it’s been a source of inspiration for us since day one.

Claudia: I’ve also been spending time learning more about live, broadcast-style content, especially what’s happening with TBPN. It feels like we’re early to a shift in how content is consumed and experienced, and that’s been really interesting to dig into.

And then outside of “industry” content, I love a good fiction book. During my time as a founder, reading fiction purely for the love of it was honestly what helped me reset through the long days of highs and lows. It’s one of the few things that fully takes you out of your own head.

Tech PR has evolved from a support function into a strategic growth lever as startups scale faster and operate under heightened regulatory pressure and public attention. The stakes have never been higher for getting the story “right” the first time, especially when journalism is doing its best to keep up with innovation (AI fatigue, anyone?).

Jack Randall has had a front row seat for this shift. After an Apple internship during Katie Cotton’s PR era, Jack was Robinhood’s first comms hire and 12th employee. He helped scale Robinhood from a scrappy fintech startup into one of the most talked-about companies of the last decade. Over six years, he led product launches, funding announcements, and crisis response as the company grew to tens of millions of users and a multi-billion dollar valuation.

Since then, Jack has continued operating at the intersection of storytelling and company-building. He most recently led marketing and communications at Aetherflux, a space company founded by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, focused on delivering renewable energy globally by collecting solar power from space. Prior to that, he led communications at OpenStore for Keith Rabois.

Today, he’s an active angel investor and works with founders on brand and communications strategy. He most recently worked with Andreessen Horowitz, Framer, Spellbook, and others.

We caught up with Jack to talk about building a strong communications program today, how the role is evolving, and what the next generation of tech PR leaders should be thinking about now.

As always, we want to hear from you! Let us know your thoughts and feedback, and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and X.

Seven questions with… Jack Randall

You’ve helped build comms programs from the ground up multiple times, first at Robinhood, then OpenStore, and most recently at Aetherflux. What feels fundamentally different about building a PR function today compared to even five or six years ago?

My job has never been more fun. Tech optimism is back. Comms looks a lot different today than when I started my career 12 years ago. Back then – I hate that I can now say “back then” – if you wanted to get your story out, you had one way: traditional media. You’d pitch TechCrunch and Forbes, hope they’d want to cover you, and hope they’d write something accurate and positive.

There’s never been more ways to tell your story. Beyond traditional media, we have founders talking directly on social, we have live shows, Substacks, podcasts, and YouTube channels. Even print magazines covering tech are having a comeback. Technology has become culturally relevant, too. Legacy media like 60 Minutes, late-night talk shows, and Joe Rogan frequently feature tech execs.

How has this shift in the media landscape changed where you spend your time as a comms leader?

At Aetherflux, OpenStore, and in recent consulting work, traditional PR and media relations were only 30% of my focus. The other 70% was new media, social, events, and owned content.

Has the shift changed how you build teams?

Yes. I want to work with high-slope, curious, creative people who have built something in “new media” before. Maybe they vibecoded a personal website, started a Substack, shot videos for startups, or built a following on TikTok. People who understand the timeline.

What’s one way you’re taking a different approach than from your early years at Robinhood?

I now actively encourage founders to show their personalities more. Show your interests outside of work. Show that you’re a person and not just pushing product. Take Baiju, who founded Aetherflux and co-founded Robinhood. He’s charismatic, funny, and into cars, watches, and Magic: The Gathering. We leaned into all of that. He started posting on Instagram because these interests and satellite hardware are visual. He talked about cars and his childhood on The Shawn Ryan Show, politics on How Long Gone, and did a running interview on TikTok.

A decade ago at Robinhood, we only talked about the company. We prioritized company social over founders’ personal accounts. Employees knew their personalities, but the world didn’t.

Do you find companies you work with value quantitative results, like pure metrics, or qualitative, or both? Has that shifted, in one direction or another? How has that shift changed what good PR actually looks like in 2026?

I like working with founders who understand that comms is about brand building over time, and that it’s hard to measure quantitatively. I measure success by whether I helped the company achieve its business goals. If we want to raise a round, how and where can we signal momentum and growth? Where are we showing up, online and offline, to reach VCs? You know when it’s working: senior candidates apply for jobs, investors want to “catch up,” your high school classmate texts you congrats.

You’ve partnered closely with founders across a wide range of personalities and industries. From your experience, what does a great founder–comms relationship look like when it’s working at its best?

The best relationships are based on trust, discretion, and a true mind-meld. You should be able to make decisions based on what they would do. And founders should bring you in early and often to business and personnel decisions. If you disagree, you need to be able to tell them. A lot of comms people are yes-people, and that’s a problem.

As both an operator and an angel investor, what signals tell you that a company is thinking clearly about its story – even before they formally invest in communications?

Their deck, website, and memo are good signals. I can usually suss this out in my first meeting with founders. They are compelling, or they aren’t. The best founders are adept at storytelling, and for good reason. You’re constantly selling: to investors before anything’s built, to candidates leaving stable jobs, to early customers trusting you with their money.

2025 was a year of buildout and stress-testing. AI investment clearly surged as companies raced to put infrastructure in place ahead of broad (hoped for) adoption. Crypto continued to see real-world and institutional use grow even as prices see-sawed. And cyberattacks became more frequent and increasingly sophisticated, pushing security teams to adapt. Across the board, technology was less about experimentation and more about operating at scale.

Looking ahead to 2026, this trend will deepen and technology will matter less for what’s shiny and new and more for how (and how widely) it’s used. With billions flowing into data center buildouts, AI will face sharper questions about how it integrates into workflows and delivers returns. Crypto will win over skeptics through utility rather than price dynamics. And as energy, security and infrastructure constraints become harder to ignore, companies will gain a clearer view of what can realistically scale in these markets.

These are the themes our teams at SBS navigate every day. From AI and fintech to energy, biotech, and cybersecurity, SBS Comms’ leadership works closely with founders, executives, investors, journalists and policymakers at the center of these shifts. Each year, we step back from that day-to-day work to compare notes and surface the patterns we see forming. The following predictions reflect that collective perspective on what’s likely to matter most in 2026.

Here’s what we predict for 2026.

AI’s Invisibility Cloak

• AI will no longer stand alone. AI is becoming synonymous with tech in the way that Web 2.0 became synonymous with the internet. In 2026, major newsrooms will dissolve AI as a discrete reporting category - not because it’s less important, but because it has become inseparable from every facet of technology, from enterprise software to consumer hardware. – Claudia Traverso, President

• AI will taste partisan politics. AI will join just about every other topic in the U.S. and divide parties ahead of midterms. The GOP – knowing that AI’s boosting investment and the White House’s economic record – will whole-heartedly embrace the tech and push for deregulation. Democrats will raise concerns about its impact on entry-level employment, energy prices and the environment. This offers a challenge and opportunity for PR teams, who will need to overcome partisanship and articulate AI’s societal benefits – and how we prepare for the changes. – Randall Woods, Senior VP

• AI will hyper-customize the enterprise app layer. Bespoke applications created by non-technical users with the help of AI will become more pervasive as these tools get better at delivering based on prompts, and at scaling to multiple users. These will replace less perfect-fit SaaS applications and services for many niche needs. Smart large SaaS application providers will also lean into this trend to provide ways that their customers can create custom, hyper-specialized front-ends, UIs and interaction models with their software using generative AI. – Darrell Etherington, VP

The Compute Reckoning

• Continued demand for AI compute will show us who we are. 2025 has been a saga: Billions and billions invested to build out infrastructure for AI, quickly met with intense scrutiny, skepticism and debates over ROI. In 2026, this showdown will come to a head. The push to meet AI’s vast computational needs just might require moving heaven and earth. It’ll force a reckoning: will our history books be written by those who see GPUs as a line item requiring quarterly accountability, or those who treat this moment as the steam engine’s sequel? Like it or not, what happens next will depend on who wins the narrative battle. I, for one, have my popcorn ready. – Sourav Das, VP

• Orbital datacenters will be a hot topic of 2026, not because they are in production but because of the future realignment of compute power. AI at the edge, from space, will ramp demand for radiation hardened chips, space solar power, and we’ll see partnerships between orbital datacenter players and major telcos like AT&T and Verizon to deliver AI power in remote locations all over the world – making devices like iPhone, Android and industrial robotics operate with more advanced capabilities. – John O’Brien, Founder

Show, Don’t Tell: Energy & the New Startup Bar

• Fusion is about to inherit AI’s narrative spotlight. Reporters who spent the last few years dissecting models and GPU shortages will follow the heat toward the energy arms race. Which company is going to deliver on its promises of building the first grid-connected fusion plant? With the US government now making it a strategic priority to meet the energy demands that AI, EVs, and onshoring has created, don’t be surprised when you see fusion dominating the headlines across business, tech, policy and national security desks. – Mikaela Street, Onboard VP

• The era of “tell” is over, media will demand more proof from early-stage startups. Reporters will raise the bar on what founders must show to earn attention. AI has given us near-superhuman coding abilities, expanding the frontier of what’s possible…and the skepticism that comes with it! Pitch deck ambition isn’t going to cut the mustard. Journalists want demos, customers, technical depth, founder POVs, and real-world usage they can actually see. As AI makes breakthroughs in hardware, biology, energy, and autonomy much more common, coverage will flow toward startups that can prove their claims. Hype without evidence won’t just fall flat, it just won’t make it past the inbox! – Mikaela Street, Onboard VP

Security’s Cyber Crisis

• The AI-fueled erosion of reality will create a new identity crisis. This year’s rise of deepfakes taught us that seeing is no longer believing, but next year we’ll see generative AI advancement that makes even advanced verification of what’s “real” a stretch. Trust and identity will become weaponized and thus one of the greatest cyber risks we’ll face. We’ll see this as individuals struggling to maintain a grasp on reality and distinguish fact from fiction on a daily basis, and as organizations that must now modernize identity management to combat AI agents, adapt to incredibly realistic social engineering and protect against data poisoning. – Madeline Abelson, VP

Every Token for Itself

• Tokens must adapt to the four-year cycle’s demise. By 2026, the digital-asset industry will finally move beyond talk of Bitcoin’s four-year cycle as institutional adoption and treasury participation pull BTC out of its historic pattern. And once investors stop trading altcoins as high-risk extensions of Bitcoin, the longstanding rising-tide dynamic will disappear. Each token will increasingly stand (or fall) on its own merits, differentiated by utility, economics and community engagement. That shift raises the bar for PR teams. Projects can no longer assume multi-year market cycles will carry them. Their fortunes will hinge on the strength of the narrative they build. – Randall Woods, Senior VP

The Financial Decision Maker

• Money thinks. Borrowing a phrase from Ramp’s Eric Glyman, but it’s the best I’ve heard for what’s going to happen across finance thanks to AI. Agentic finance is already transforming the finance function at large enterprises and sole ownerships alike, and it’s bound to get a lot more transformative as we go into 2026. We’ve also only just begun to see how it’s going to impact the largest money movers in the world, and big FIs with international impact are finally going to be moving beyond the ‘many pilots’ phase into actual adoption and widespread use, which will upend how money moves in all asset categories. – Darrell Etherington, VP

Health Media Seek Governance

• Source needed: trusted operator. Health media will increasingly turn to clinicians, health system leaders, and regulators who understand how healthcare functions in practice. The media has become more skeptical as AI claims are becoming harder to verify, policy is evolving in real time, clinical workflows vary widely across institutions, and mistakes have real-world consequences. After years of covering bold ambitions, health journalists are now seeking operational grounding: how systems are deployed, who is accountable, what ethical guardrails exist, and how often solutions truly succeed. – Kristina Bannan, Senior Director

Legal Tech Built to Last

• Legal tech will become more ruthless, and the winners and losers will be exposed. After years of heavy capital inflows, the shakeout won’t happen because demand slows, but because risk becomes unavoidable. As legal AI platforms absorb sensitive data, from medical records to settlement strategies, security researchers and regulators will start treating them like financial infrastructure. Law firms will demand reliability over novelty. Automation will be table stakes, and even well-funded startups will lose trust fast if their security posture doesn’t hold up. The real winners will be the companies that can survive sustained adversarial and regulatory pressure, and prove they’re built to operate as infrastructure, not experiments. – Ali Little, Senior Account Manager

Over the course of my nearly decade-and-a-half career in PR and comms, I’ve had the pleasure (and the challenge) of helping a number of companies transition from being a young, scrappy, privately-held business into a publicly-traded entity with entirely different concerns when it comes to visibility, communications and public perception. Initial public offering (IPO) comms require a very specific, unique playbook to execute correctly, so I wanted to share some of the lessons I’ve learned over many years refining and practicing the art that is the PR of making a public market debut.

Going public is ultimately about helping investors understand why your business is worth betting on. That’s a powerful forcing function for communications, and something the best companies start well before those three hyped letters enter their growth horizon.

The first rule of IPO comms is to simplify your story. Your audience on listing day isn’t just everyone that’s been along for the ride thus far. It’s also Wall Street, retail investors and everyday people watching CNBC. If your story only makes sense to insiders or those in the orbit of your business, you’ll miss out on connecting with a much larger audience. Companies that start clarifying their narrative early are better positioned for both the IPO and continued growth - instead of having to spend quarter after quarter getting audiences up to speed on who they are, what they do, and why it matters.

Second, explain how you make money. In plain language! Investors today are more skeptical than they were a few years ago. They’re looking for real economics, not jargon or hype-associated keywords. They trust what they can make sense of (most of the time). The earlier you articulate your business model in digestible terms, the more frictionless that IPO leap will feel later on.

Finally, build your media relationships early. Too many private companies think they simply “graduate” to financial and business media coverage, and that they’ll be welcomed with open arms and fanfare. Those companies are in for a not-fun surprise. Some of the most successful IPO storytelling is the result of long-term groundwork with the right journalists. By the time you list, media should have a sense of your identity, mission and trajectory. Otherwise, you risk your big listing day being defined entirely by how the stock performs and whatever narrative baggage is already attached to the sector you fall within.

Alternate routes to IPO, i.e. SPAC or reverse merger, and how that impacts comms strategy

Different paths to public markets bring different dynamics, but the fundamentals remain largely constant. Whether you’re going public through a traditional IPO, a SPAC, or a reverse merger, you’re still stepping into the public markets, and investors still need to understand what you do, your industry, your growth potential, etc. The same storytelling discipline applies: clear messaging, credible leadership visibility, and media relations efforts that precede the transaction.

What shifts is the scrutiny and timeline. Traditional IPOs face heavier regulatory review and sustained media coverage from filing to listing. SPACs and reverse mergers typically move faster and draw slightly less day-to-day attention, but also invite a different kind of skepticism. But all in all, credibility and education - achieved through business storytelling early and often - should remain priority number one.

When should companies start thinking about comms from an IPO perspective?

From a comms perspective, it’s never too early to start. Ideally, companies give themselves 12 to 18 months to refine messaging, build visibility, and strengthen relationships before the IPO process kicks off. That runway lets you shape a clear narrative and avoid scrambling when the spotlight hits.

That said, I’ve seen companies pull it off in as little as three to six months, too. It just takes discipline and focus. You don’t need years of prep, but you do need intentionality. The only real mistake is waiting until the last minute and then being dismayed when the market reception suggests people aren’t grasping your vision.

The ‘Quiet Period’ and what it means for comms and PR

The quiet period is when SEC rules limit what a company can say about its performance or future plans. Basically anything that could influence investors before that information’s been formally disclosed. You’ve probably seen (or more likely scrolled past) this reflected in “no forward-looking statements” language in filings and press releases.

A lot of comms teams - after experiencing a new level of risk-averse ire from legal teams for the first time - treat the quiet period ike a total communications blackout, but that’s overkill. You can still do thought leadership, talk about your mission, and tell your company’s story! You just can’t share new, non-public information or make future-looking claims. It’s not complicated to media train spokespeople on navigating these rules effectively.

There’s a famous example of what not to do: Over two decades ago, Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave a Playboy interview during Google’s quiet period that exaggerated some details and nearly delayed their IPO. But that’s an extreme case. With good media training and clear guidelines, executives can stay visible and on message without crossing lines.

TL;DR is the quiet period doesn’t always mean you have to literally be quiet. You just need to exercise more control over what you say.

Understanding the IPO timeline

In the “official” sense, the process starts with the confidential S-1 filing, which is when a company quietly submits its paperwork to the SEC. From that moment, you’re technically under quiet period rules. So even though there’s no public announcement yet, comms teams should start tightening messaging and training executives on what they can and can’t say. (Sometimes confidential S-1 filings get leaked, so you need to prepared for that as well.) This kicks off the SEC review process, which is a back-and-forth between the company and regulators to refine the S-1.

Then comes the public S-1, when your entire business story becomes visible: Who you are, how you make money, what risks you face, your growth strategy, everything. Once that hits, you’re on the clock. (Most companies go public within about three to five weeks of that filing.)

After that is the roadshow, when the leadership team hits the road to meet investors. It’s technically investor relations, but it’s also great messaging practice - tons of repetition and refinement of how the story of the company is told (not dissimilar to how standup comedians perfect their hour by workshopping it on tour). Executives often come out of it able to tell the business story in their sleep.

As the expected listing date approaches, companies set the deal terms. The S-1 is updated to show how much they’re raising, share count, and final pricing. That number usually gets locked in the night before listing day, and it sets the tone for how the media covers your debut.

Finally, there’s listing day and the opening bell-ringing moment every CEO dreams about since they were five. The market will react, the headlines will fly, and it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers. But from a comms standpoint, it’s important to remind everyone that this is just the start of your life as a public company. The goal is to be measured against the company’s long-term vision and execution more so than this one moment in time.

Internal comms and the IPO process

Internal comms are simple but essential. On the day you file the S-1, send a clear note to employees explaining what’s happening: The filing doesn’t mean you’re public yet, and it’s still business as usual. Reinforce that no one should discuss the process externally, and direct all inquiries to a specific comms contact or alias. These habits set the tone for life as a public company. Once you’re listed, those same rules continue to be in effect - information about deals, partnerships, or plans must always flow through official, authorized channels.

AI, today’s IPO market and current realities

In some ways the current IPO environment is very different. In other ways it feels familiar (as many a reporter or financial analyst will tell you). I’d say what’s most distinct right now is that the bar for storytelling (in terms of both the story and the effort behind its telling) is higher than it’s been in years. There’s just so much noise, the media landscape is fragmenting and evolving faster than we can keep up with, and the attention economy continues to reinvent itself.

Investors, analysts and financial media are forced to be more discerning. They’re not buying into growth stories like they used to. There’s a number of AI companies that have grown faster than the majority of companies in history, but today’s blinding speed of innovation has also introduced the possibility that their existence could be transient - that some new breakthrough next year renders entire classes of companies obsolete.

So proof of durability is now a very important criteria in how they evaluate a business. For comms teams, this means finding ways to slice through the hype. How the business actually works, what the moat is, whether it embraces adaptability, why it’s a strong long-term bet - all these things need to be grounded and conveyed through thoughtful storytelling across a mosaic of platforms and formats. Credibility, transparency and consistency are key.

Beyond that, the bottom line for comms isn’t much different from what it’s always been: Build trust before you need it.

WHAT WE’RE READING + WATCHING:

• Lindsay Amos’ thoughtful take on how founders can jump on the rising trend of leveraging in-person tactics to build audiences and earn media attention for The Angle

• Paul R. La Monica shares some insights on the impact of the government shutdown on the IPO window, along with perspective on some recent public market debuts on Barron’s

• Steven Levy interviews Palantir’s Alex Karp, including very upfront framing around the vast ideological divide between the two, for Wired

A SAMPLING OF CLIENT HITS FROM THIS MONTH:

• GitHub’s new centralized ‘Agent HQ’ for coding agents in The New Stack, CNBC, The Verge, Sources, VentureBeat, ZDNet

• Lambda CEO Stephen Balaban discussed the company’s multi-billion dollar AI infrastructure deal with Microsoft on CNBC

• Rafay Systems CEO Haseeb Budhani talks orchestrating the AI infra layer on Bloomberg’s Tech Disruptors podcast

• Blue Water Autonomy’s new ship-scale demonstrator test covered in Business Insider.

• The current moment in Hollywood/film industry AI and how Asteria is navigating it in a Vanity Fair feature.

• UC Berkeley’s student-led Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity and their joint effort the Consortium of Cyber Clinics profiled in Forbes

Imagine yourself one year ago, in the summer of 2024. Maybe you were planning an Olympics watch party, or following the election coverage, or just trying to avoid those record-breaking heat waves. You had no idea what a Labubu was. It was a simpler time.

Now imagine someone approaching you and offering a prophecy:

“By this time next year, the presidential election will be decided by podcast, the world’s biggest pop star will announce an album on her boyfriend’s YouTube channel, and the hottest business show will be hosted on an X livestream!”

You’d probably think they were crazy. But all of those predictions have come true.

The media industry seems to have shifted entirely since the summer of 2024, and the changes have been swift. A new crop of Substack-based business and tech publications seemed to jump up overnight, Theo Von’s guest chair became the new TED talk, and the audience-focused strategy and strong editorial voice of net-new media brands like TBPN and Feed Me seem to be remaking the media space in their own image.

Old-guard outlets are embracing the shift – in the last few months, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal opened up dozens of positions in their video departments, and the Washington Post pivoted its “third newsroom,” WP Ventures, toward “personality-driven content.” The Atlantic’s leaning into front-facing video and The Information is livestreaming. For an industry obsessed with pivots, this one feels particularly abrupt. Every media outlet – from a trade-focused YouTube channel to a thousand-person newsroom – is now working with the same tools and jockeying for the same audience. As a result, the list of possible targets for any announcement or storyline seems to grow by the day.

This extra-new media landscape offers plenty of fresh opportunities to get client messages across: newsletters, podcasts and specialized livestreams offer an unparalleled opportunity to reach highly engaged, niche audiences. It makes sense that some founders and firms have opted to “go direct” and show up only in these nontraditional spaces, eschewing mainstream media outreach entirely. On the surface, this strategy seems less risky – new-media creators tend to be less adversarial than their newsroom-based counterparts, and often have more context on specific client niches.

They can offer a safe, supportive space for spokespeople to go deep on their expertise without watering it down for a general audience – but there’s a thin line between “safe” and “sycophantic.” An effective PR program finds the balance between these cozier, content-first opportunities and old-school relationship-building with traditional outlets – and, crucially, gives spokespeople the training and messaging necessary to thrive in both scenarios.

It’s crucial to communicate that the skepticism of journalists in more traditional media isn't a bug – it’s the feature that separates earned media from a glorified collab post. Earned media is only valuable because audiences view it as trustworthy. Without that credibility, it’s just ad space.

Communications remains a business of relationships — and yes, it seems that professionals in the field need to be building those with more journalists and new-media creators than ever. But the core values of the business remain unchanged: cultivate trust, communicate authentically, and find the right homes for the story you want to tell. The companies that win this transition aren't abandoning traditional media for podcasts or vice versa, they're creating comprehensive strategies that leverage both.

– Kylie Harrington, Account Executive

WHAT WE’RE READING + WATCHING:

• Viola Zhou’s reflection on how chatbots are being used for health advice in China (and…everywhere else) for Rest of World

• Two pieces that oddly seem to go together: Pat Cassels’ look at competitive sauna in Slate and Sarah Larson’s exploration of competitive massage in The New Yorker

• YouTuber Mina Le’s investigation into the death of the celebrity interview

A SAMPLING OF CLIENT HITS FROM THIS MONTH:

• Cloudflare’s new implementation of NLWeb in The New Stack

• Flexport’s Ryan Petersen on Cambrian Fintech and Squawk on the Street

• Bessemer’s take on how software leaders should think about AI in Forbes

• Ton Strategy’s Manuel Stotz on Squawk Box Asia

• A 22-minute deep dive on all things DeepL in Forbes

• Ramp on the cover of Fortune

• GC AI in The New York Times, Fortune, NPR, Deadline and TBPN

• Spara’s coming out of stealth in Business Insider

• Cloudflare’s Matthew Prince on WIRED’s The Big Interview

• An inside look at American Express’ new Platinum card in Fast Company

At SBS Comms, we work every day in the world of “new media” by helping clients navigate Substacks, Beehiiv and other emerging platforms; tracking where the industry is headed; and examining how it reshapes PR strategies and campaigns. Few people are better positioned to provide perspective on this phenomenon than Christiana Sciaudone. She spent six years reporting and editing at Bloomberg News, covered crypto and emerging business models at The Block, and now publishes a twice-weekly newsletter, A Media Operator, focused squarely on the health of the media industry itself.

She brings a candid view of how legacy outlets and new players are adapting – and what it may take to keep audiences engaged. In this Q&A, Christiana unpacks the media industry’s current state, from the New York Times’ diversification strategy to the future of newsletters, and why she believes new media may follow the path of consolidation that’s already playing out in streaming.

How do you see the overall health of traditional outlets – newspapers, legacy magazines, broadcast – at this moment? Are they adapting fast enough?

Some traditional media are doing quite well these days. The New York Times is thriving thanks to its diversification into games, cooking and deeper into sports. Some people may only be subscribing to play Wordle, but that’s benefiting the company as a whole. Shares of the company are up some 14% year to date through August 27. The Wall Street Journal is doubling down on news, with subscriptions up 7% to over 4.5 million as reported for the second quarter. Parent company Dow Jones as a whole saw revenue for all publications in the quarter increased 7% to $604 million, helped in part by increasing investment in B2B media franchises. (See my analysis for more on NYT vs WSJ).

That said, The New York Post (a sister of Dow Jones, both under News Corp) reported 90 million unique users in June, compared to 117 million in the prior year. It’s not pretty, though the paper is taking action, adding podcasts and, soon, a dedicated West Coast edition.

The Washington Post lost subscribers for political reasons, which is a shame because it still does good journalism. The Post is trying to evolve, introducing WP Intelligence, a premium B2B analysis product, and it has been trying to kick off the third newsroom, now known as WP Ventures, focused on personality-driven content. The success of those two remains to be seen. It’s good to see them experimenting, but both products have taken a long time to launch, and success is not guaranteed.

Some legacy news publications I think may be hindered by their pasts and by inertia. Editors are scared to try new things. That’s understandable, layoffs always feel like they are around the corner. But it can't continue to be the status quo. It might be easier to start something new than try to get a legacy media company to evolve. Not that it hasn't been done, but the track record isn't amazing.

And in light of new media, do you see it more as a threat or a complement to legacy outlets?

New media is not a threat. It’s free from the shackles of dated business strategies and has no nostalgia for the good old days. New media models should be admired and imitated where it makes sense. After all, everyone now has a newsletter (thanks to The Skimm, Morning Brew, et al).

Looking five years out, do you expect new media to integrate back into mainstream institutions, or will the fragmentation only deepen?

I wonder if we'll see a lot of the individuals who flocked to Substack get together and rebuild media companies. At some point, one would expect readers to tire of paying for a dozen different subscriptions and prefer to pay one for a multitude of content – not unlike what’s happening with streaming now. What that might look like and who gets in bed with who – and what the role of hosts like Substack and Beehiiv might be – remains to be seen.

Do you think new media has changed what kinds of stories get covered, or just how they’re distributed?

On the one hand, I’d like to think more stories are getting covered, with more care and consideration. The newsletter International Intrigue does a pretty good job of surfacing stories from around the world that might not otherwise be covered in mainstream media, and they try to provide context and intelligence around them. I appreciate that effort.

Lachlan Cartwright started a newsletter tabloid covering media this year. What I love about what he’s doing is that he’s actually on the ground and reporting, talking to sources and getting scoops.

So much of what we are being sold today is some “journalist” pontificating on different stories or topics. I don’t really care what you think or have to say about something (for the most part, that is; my boss Jacob is an exception for his transparency and willingness to admit when he’s wrong).

Media has to be audience-focused for longevity and sustainability. Are you truly creating value? Or just trying to be the loudest voice? Media cannot live to serve platforms or search or AI. Media cannot lean on institutional reputations – though that will certainly prolong the death march.

TV producers don’t just want a good pitch—they want the right pitch, at the right time, with the right guest. And while news cycles are faster and more crowded than ever, the most memorable segments aren’t always the ones tied to breaking headlines. Sometimes, what really lands is the expert who can make a story resonate with a community.

To dig into what actually works (and what doesn’t), we caught up with 3x Emmy award winner Hayley Connor, who produces one of CNN’s top newscasts: CNN This Morning. She shares how to break through when a pitch isn’t tied to a headline, what kind of experts make a lasting impact, and the small details PR folks often overlook that can make or break a segment.

Read on for her take—and some honest, actionable advice for getting guests on air.

Q: What makes a pitch stand out even when it’s not directly tied to a news cycle?

HC: If a pitch doesn't have a tie to the news cycle, it needs to answer 1 specific question for me: Why does it matter to our viewers? If the pitch has a reason this is important to regular folks across the country, then it can hook me.

Q: When do you find it helpful to hear from industry experts beyond the usual political voices?

HC: I like to hear from an industry expert when we're telling a powerful follow-on story (because it’s hot in the news cycle) and we need to hear from a different perspective. I also want to hear from an industry expert when we are talking about political stories that impact them. So for example with Trump's tariffs, I would like to hear from an auto industry expert rather than a politician when we already know what they are going to say. The more niche guests can be the most impactful.

Q: What’s an example of a story you didn’t expect to cover but turned out to be a great fit?

HC: We recently did a story on rising prices in coffee driven by tariffs. As a morning show, it seemed like a great fit. But I was worried there wouldn't be enough content to cover at least a 4-minute-long guest interview. But because of the industry expert we booked, she was able to expand it into a story about why our viewers care beyond just the rising prices.

Q: What’s a common misstep PR folks make when pitching you?

HC: When pitching a guest, I need more than just a bio on the guest. We would love examples of past appearances on TV. If they don't have TV experience, that’s ok, but then we’ll need something else that will prove they are a valuable voice we’d want to hear from. Whether it be print interviews, youtube videos, or even X posts are helpful.

Q: If someone has valuable insight but no breaking news, what’s the best way to get on your radar?

HC: Be upfront about that. Call out in the subject line something like “SOURCE: Impact on XYZ”, that way when I’m scrambling through my inbox looking for a potential guest on something we’re thinking of covering, it’s easy to find and consider. We cover every vertical at CNN, so even if your pitch is not part of the current news cycle, there’s a chance I’ll come across it down the line and reach out. Even if it’s weeks or months down the line.

At SBS, we aren’t focused on telling simple stories, but rather helping our clients build narratives that will move industries. So while many agencies stick to conventional playbooks and PR trades, we push ourselves to find inspiring storytellers and journalists looking at things a little differently. One of those teams we stumbled across over a year ago is… Story Company.

Story Company, founded by Jason Carman, focuses on creating the next wave of science and technology films. Their motto: story inspires science, science makes story real. This ethos deeply resonates with us. At SBS, we are privileged to work with some of the brightest minds developing technologies that shape everyday life, helping them communicate to the world, raise money, and push forward.

Story Company released their first feature film last month, New Space. New Space gathered attention from the likes of Elon Musk, the leading space teams across the ecosystem, top investors, journalists, and more.

New Space encapsulates so much of what we know to be special about the space industry. And our team is proud to be the first company to sponsor a Story Company feature film, allowing the full film to be available on YouTube and X to further inspire the next generation of innovators to build the future.

In this edition of Briefing Notes, we chatted with Jason about what he’s building at Story Company, what inspired him to create the new media channel, the power of film, underhyped technologies, and more. Without further ado, here is our interview with Jason…

Q: You've spent your career blending storytelling and technology. What draws you to deep tech storytelling, and how do you approach making these complex topics engaging for a broad audience? Was there something specific that inspired you to create Story Company?

A: What draws me to deep tech storytelling is that it's largely an unexplored category for most people. There's a common misconception taught in schools and society that you need to be exceptionally gifted – great at math to be a rocket scientist, or an outstanding student to work in advanced science. But in reality, the gap between making a significant impact often has less to do with scientific depth and more to do with an entrepreneur or team's ability to bridge the economic gap in developing products or technologies.

The truth is that changing the world through science requires dedication and hard work more than pure genius. That story really inspires me. I think we have this societal problem where we don't believe we can change the world for the better. In the early 20th century, some of humanity's greatest innovations happened simply because we were too foolish to know how hard things were – so we just did them.

Look at examples like the Titanic – its entire supply chain was built by one company in Ireland. The Empire State Building was constructed in just 450 days. NASA was founded from nothing and put a man on the moon in 11 years. We rarely see that kind of speed and intensity in innovation today, but when we do, it provides immense value for humanity. Telling these stories can inspire more people to build the future at a faster rate and make the world a better place.

As for creating Story Company, I've been a huge sci-fi fan my entire life and have always wanted to create the next Star Wars or great sci-fi series that inspires Americans of all ages and backgrounds. Merging deep technology and science storytelling with creating real science fiction is a dream come true.

Q: Your documentary-style approach to covering deep tech companies is unique. What's the most surprising thing you've learned about the companies and founders you've featured?

A: One of the most surprising things I've learned is how many founders have told me they wished they had hyped more. In deep tech, "hype" often carries a negative connotation, but I've met exemplary founders who believe they could have saved an average of two years in time, capital, and effort if they had promoted their work more actively. There's obviously a balance, but I think the average rational person doesn't need to worry about being too hyped as long as they're building real things.

Telling your story in a big, powerful, meaningful way is incredibly valuable – not just for fundraising, but for PR, marketing, customer acquisition, hiring, and internal morale.

Another fascinating observation is that the most exceptional founders are inspired by science fiction rather than just business success, and they often communicate in similar ways. Perhaps it's because they're in the same circles on Twitter or reading the same books, but there's generally a shared belief in humanity's grand and even cosmic potential among people in deep tech, which I find truly inspiring.

Q: A lot of your work is all about the future. Is there a specific technology or a trend right now that you think is still underhyped?

A: There are actually many underhyped technologies and trends right now. While most obvious low-hanging fruit ideas are already being worked on, there are numerous opportunities outside the traditional venture ecosystem – things like small manufacturing companies and community and culture companies that provide significant meaning and value to the American economy.

When it comes to deep tech's future, we're really pushing into edge science and the frontier of what's possible. It's a great time to be a nerd who enjoys diving deep into cutting-edge research, bringing that knowledge to scientific applications, and then transforming those applications into real-world solutions.

Q: Looking back at your journey, from making short films with a flip camcorder to launching your own documentary series, what's one lesson you've learned about creative risk-taking?

A: The biggest lesson I've learned is that if you create something you yourself would deeply and truly enjoy, others will enjoy it too. It can be challenging, but it's crucial to expose yourself to high-quality work and art as much as possible because that's what refines your taste and makes it more unique and special, ultimately enabling you to create better work. In 2025, I think focusing on closing iteration loops quickly, working faster, and staying focused on serious problems and creating real value for people is always important and underrated.

Q: What kinds of stories are you most excited to find and tell right now? How should founders or teams reach out if they think they have something worth covering?

A: Right now, I'm most excited about telling stories from the frontiers of innovation, science, and technology. After doing S3 for two years, I realized that focusing on single companies, while valuable, can sometimes feel like creating advertisements, even though we've never been paid for an S3 episode.

That's why we're shifting our focus to Frontier Films, which SBS was the first to sponsor. Instead of highlighting individual companies, we're exploring the frontiers themselves – spaces like neural engineering, synthetic biology, modern aviation, and energy abundance. We want to clearly define these frontiers and share them with the world to get more people excited and involved.

If your company has been around for a few years and you're part of a larger frontier story, or if you see an emerging meta-story – whether it's the aviation renaissance, nuclear revitalization, or new computing paradigms – we'd love to hear about it. Email us if you think you're part of these broader narratives we're exploring.

Q: And we like to end with a cerebral question: What are you reading or watching right now and how is it inspiring your work?

A: I'm currently finishing up the Red Rising series, which has completely impressed me. I love young adult fiction, and this series offers powerful storytelling with thoughtful world-building and surprisingly impressive dialogue. It's really inspiring the sci-fi work I'm developing right now. As for watching, I'm actually not consuming much as there's not a lot of great stuff out there at the moment... Instead, my team and I are focused on making better films ourselves.

“New media” is gaining momentum as digital outlets, blogs, and newsletters meet reader demand for independent voices and fresh, oftentimes irreverent editorial perspective. But in many ways, these publications still face the constraints of legacy media, as they rely on fickle advertising revenue or subscription plans that can feel clunky and outdated to readers.

Blockchain infrastructure offers an alternative, and entrepreneurs are launching new crypto-based strategies to modernize the financial and technical infrastructure of journalism. Brad Keoun, a former editor at Bloomberg News and a recent managing editor for CoinDesk, is giving voice to this nascent industry by co-organizing the February 26 “Decentralized Media Summit” at ETHDenver. Speakers include Arikia Millikan, founder of CTRL+X; Christine Mohan, co-founder of Civil Media Co. and contributor to the Polkadot and Algorand ecosystems; Clara Tsao, founding officer of the Filecoin Foundation; and Zack Guzmán, founder of Trustless Media and the host of Coinage.

In this interview, Brad talks about the summit, as well as his vision for decentralized media and pending launch of his own project, Distro Media, which will offer decentralized infrastructure for news organizations.

Briefing Notes: Tell me what you mean by decentralized news media.

Brad Keoun: Decentralized media can mean a lot of things, but at its core, it refers to using blockchain technology to address some of the challenges the news industry faces. Decentralization can be applied at multiple stages—news gathering, editorial decision-making, production, and delivery.

For example, take The New York Times. It has bureaus worldwide, making it somewhat decentralized in its operations. But ultimately, editorial decisions roll up to a single company controlled by the Sulzberger family. Their distribution is also traditional web2 infrastructure—mobile, digital, and app-based. None of it is blockchain-based. Decentralized media explores ways to introduce blockchain at various levels, from editorial control to content distribution.

BN: What are some current examples of decentralized media in practice?

BK: One interesting example is Trustless Media, which runs Coinage. They use a DAO model where members who own NFTs can weigh in on editorial decisions and interact directly with journalists. This kind of participatory model is an experiment in decentralized editorial governance.

With my company Distro Media, we're building a platform that could serve as decentralized infrastructure for news organizations. The goal is to reduce single points of failure, improve resilience, and create an anti-censorship model. A key aspect is integrating blockchain-based payments and microtransactions, which are now possible on Layer 2 networks. These new capabilities make it feasible to explore entirely new financial models for journalism.

BN: How do blockchain-based payments fit into this model?

BK: There are several ways micropayments could be applied. Readers could be incentivized with tokenized rewards. Advertisers could pay readers directly to consume ads. Users could accumulate tokens to unlock tiered content. And subscriptions could be redesigned so that users pay per article with a seamless, one-click transaction rather than dealing with credit cards and personal information.

Beyond that, I’m working with Morpheus, a network of smart agents. They have a staking model where users can allocate their staking yield to fund projects they support. This could be applied to media subscriptions—rather than paying a monthly fee, you stake tokens, and the yield effectively funds your subscription.

BN: I’m guessing you need a crypto wallet to participate in all this.

BK: Right. While some content might be accessible without a wallet, users would need one to unlock the full benefits, like payments and participation in governance structures.

BN: How far along are you on Distro Media?

BK: We’re still in development. I have software developers working on the front and back-end, but we still need to build out the web3 functionality. I’m heading to ETHDenver to find collaborators who can help accelerate the project.

BN: On that note, can you tell us about the ETHDenver panel you're organizing?

BK: This panel grew out of a conversation with Zack Guzmán from Coinage last December. We realized that decentralized media isn’t yet an industry—it’s a set of experiments happening independently. The goal of this panel is to bring together people working on these projects, share insights, and start building a community.

As of February 17 we have 223 registrants confirmed and 40 on a waitlist, and I’m excited about the engagement. Some of our panelists include Arikia Millikan, CEO of CTRL+X, which won a hackathon last year for a project on Solana that facilitates smart-contract content licensing with archives on Arweave. There’s also the Decentralized Storage Alliance, which has been developing decentralized storage solutions in conjunction with Filecoin.

Decentralized data storage is crucial for preserving journalism—if a news organization goes under, you don’t want its archives to disappear. Blockchain-based storage can help solve issues like link rot, ensuring historical records remain accessible.

BN: What’s your broader vision for Distro Media?

BK: I want it to be extremely easy for anyone to launch their own news publication. Whether it's a major media outlet leveraging the infrastructure, a temporary pop-up covering an event, or a high school teacher managing a class news page—it should be that simple. Influencers, independent journalists, and niche publications should have the same tools and revenue opportunities as major news organizations.

We’re in an era where new media is growing rapidly. Pirate Wires, Substack, and independent newsletters are gaining traction because people want alternatives to traditional outlets. Distro Media aims to provide a platform where both professionals and amateurs can publish, monetize, and engage their audiences seamlessly.

BN: How does this compare to Substack?

BK: Substack has been hugely successful, but it is optimized for long-form or medium-form writing. My vision for Distro Media is to provide more flexibility, allowing for shorter-form content and real-time publishing. Not everyone wants to sit down and write a 1,000-word article, and with blockchain-based microtransactions, we can offer a frictionless way for creators to monetize their content instantly. The adaptability of the platform is key—it should serve both professional journalists and independent content creators seamlessly.

This is about upgrading the financial and technical infrastructure of journalism. By moving beyond the constraints of web2, we can offer better functionality, better user experiences, and more sustainable business models for media.

Like so many of our clients, SBS has been in a very fortunate period of hyper-growth these past few years. In 2024 alone, we added 23 people to our team and nearly 20 new clients to our roster. Much of this growth has been propelled by the success of our OnBoard program for early stage companies, which saw nearly 95% growth in clients and 180% growth in revenue between 2023 and 2024. As we look ahead, there’s no sign of slowing down.

Our fast growth and incredible reputation for being some of the industry’s best media strategists has made us a coveted player in the communications market. Over the past year, we’ve explored strategic partnerships that accelerate our expansion and make us stand out from other agencies. Experimentation and doing things differently has always been core to our DNA. When we first met 829 Studios, we recognized a remarkable opportunity to continue this ethos. SBS and 829, one of the largest integrated marketing agencies in New England, are joining forces to shake up our industry and become a communications powerhouse for the next era.

In some ways, 829 is everything we are not: While we focus on media relations, strategy and press results, 829 is focused on content and design, web development, SEO, influencer relations, paid media and so much more. And yet, we’re more alike than we are different: We’re relentless in our pursuit of high impact results, growing rapidly and the best at what we do. We’ve always considered our laser focus on earned media to be a core strength as an agency, and this partnership allows us to maintain that, while giving us the ability to access an expanded ecosystem of services that supplement our work so that we can offer even more for our clients. SBS and 829 will operate as “sister agencies,” offering the services we’re known for, while collaborating on clients that can benefit from an integrated approach.

Collaboration is the New Comms Advantage

Clearly, the growth strategies of our tech clients have rubbed off on us. Not long ago, the world of technology was a village of walled gardens. Companies fought fiercely for revenue, locking in customers with aggressive contracts and pointless differentiation that would make it hard to move to a competitor. Today, the tech industry is far more open and cooperative. The most successful products have built bridges with partnerships and APIs to prioritize the customer experience. The key is to focus on your expertise and leverage others’ expertise rather than trying to become everything to everyone. This is what SBS and 829 are doing – we’re changing nothing about our focus and work for clients, but giving them more, if and when they need it.

This spirit of growth and adoption is central to who we are. Last year, we wrote a blog called “Communications Has Never Been More Important in the Age of AI.” It was a direct response to the echo chamber of doom and gloom around AI disrupting our industry. What people weren’t seeing is that The AI Era makes communications more critical. If AI is to synthesize and present information — including information that directly influences people’s buying decisions — shouldn’t businesses more closely consider the content they’re putting out, and the channels through which they disseminate that information? PR and Marketing professionals have a new opportunity in front of us: How can we ensure our clients are presented and/or stack-ranked favorably against competitors in popular AI systems like ChatGPT? In this new environment, digital marketing techniques like paid media and social, influencer engagement and SEO become even more imperative for building comprehensive communications programs that successfully seed the right information through the right channels, to the right people.

Our partnership with 829 allows us to stay ahead of an entire industry as the media landscape and AI evolve over the next decade. Together, we’ll continue working with many of the biggest brands in the world, from deep tech to consumer goods, and support companies of all stages of maturity. In this expanded ecosystem, expect to see even more experimentation, expansion and excellence from us in 2025 and beyond. Same SBS, but (even) better.

We’re grateful to our people, the incredible Brew Crew, for getting us to this point and to the team at 829 for embarking on this adventure with us.

Let’s go!

As we reflect on the whirlwind of headlines in 2024, from the U.S. presidential election to AI advancements to Big Tech competition, we’re reminded that the only constant in media is change. A year ago, we knew 2024 would be dramatic (have a read of our predictions from last year to see what we got wrong – and surprisingly right!) – but there was plenty that was purely unpredictable.

The SBS Media Hub is in constant conversation with reporters, clients and colleagues to stay ahead of the curve. As we look ahead to 2025, our team put our heads together to come up with key themes we predict will define the story of the new year, and the way it’s told.

From reimagining revenue models to covering a new president, here’s what we predict for 2025.

Positivity will rule in 2025

For the last 8 years or so, it seemed like we were just waiting for the other shoe to drop. From Theranos to FTX, the tone around business and technology companies and those that lead them was highly critical and often unfair. It wasn’t always this way – there was a time when FAANG companies were largely seen as the most exciting companies in America, and new apps and services saw vocal support amongst the media. In 2025, I see more of a return to this style of reporting.

The 2024 election exhausted people, and the post-election ratings show Americans would rather turn the channel than listen to more negative banter. This will flow into business and tech reporting, where investigative hit pieces will hold less value and reader attention than years past. People want to hear from the “new” Mark Zuckerberg and read future-forward stories rather than rehashing the (albeit very real) past problems of Meta, for example.

It’s a vibe shift and it feels good. In no way am I saying companies or executives should not be scrutinized, but it is possible that these stories have less influence in the coming year (and can actually serve to have the opposite effect – more attention may lead to more extended podcast interviews for founders that swing a new fan base). We’re in a tech boom with AI and I see the tone shifting back, similar to 15 years ago (I’m old) -- fun year ahead.

John O’Brien, Founder

Media organizations will make tough compromises for revenue

The days of subscriptions and events driving meaningful growth for large news organizations are numbered – small, independent outlets like Newcomer can succeed and even thrive, but AI companies are putting an end to traditional advertising models and splintering traffic. As we cover later on, paywalls—even creative bundles—aren’t always the answer. Some outlets have reduced staff and streamlined their focus areas, but a more dramatic rethinking of the news industry is needed to drive sustainable long-term growth.

The launch of Hunterbrook Capital in 2023 was just the beginning; we’ll soon see at least one media organization attempt to thrive on revenue streams that test the limits of traditional disclosure policies, such as allowing reporters to invest in the startups they cover. Some will simply make it clear that these arrangements are occurring (whether or not they disclose specific moves, which Hunterbrook does not), while some will continue to prize transparency – either way, the fracturing of media revenue will continue.

Cole Garry, Vice President

Local news will find its second wind

The decline of local news has been a familiar (and sad) story, but I’m hopeful that 2025 will mark an inflection point as innovative business models breathe new life into community journalism. Worker-owned publications and nonprofit newsrooms like Mission Local in San Francisco and The DC Line in Washington, D.C. are already demonstrating that hyperlocal coverage can thrive when reporters are deeply embedded in the community and their interests.

As technology's impact increasingly plays out at the neighborhood level – from autonomous vehicles cruising city streets to Big Tech investing reviving nuclear power in someone’s backyard – communicators have a real need to build relationships and trust with local media. This evolution presents a unique chance to target worker-owned outlets and nonprofit publications, and tell stories where innovation meets daily life, particularly as tech decisions increasingly require community buy-in.

Cameron Turner, Director

Media will face another post-election reckoning

The news industry always engages in self-reflection following a surprise election result, and this time will be no different. Few forecasted an outcome where Republicans would win the White House and both chambers of Congress, with Trump clinching the popular vote and every swing state. While journalists aren’t in the business of making political predictions, the results will force newsrooms to question whether they understand the priorities of voters and are empathetic to the national mood. This will have two consequences:

1. The influence of alternative media will grow. Mainstream reporters will pay more attention to the outlets that moved the electorate and influence incoming administration officials, from podcasts to Substack newsletters, as well as conservative blogs and shows. They’ll monitor Fox & Friends for a potential Trump call-in, One America News Network to identify rising MAGA stars, and Joe Rogan to stay attuned to the zeitgeist of mainstream conversations. And of course, newsrooms will try to satisfy demand for alternative news by creating sources of their own, including podcasts, X Spaces events, TikTok explainers, the list goes on.

2. Journalists will cover Silicon Valley from a new perspective. They’ll see the region not just as a cradle of tech innovation and talent, but as a political powerhouse that propelled successful GOP campaigns and now wields greater influence in Washington. Expect heightened coverage of Big Tech’s alignment with President-elect Trump in 2025 and its efforts to court his administration, alongside intensified scrutiny of Silicon Valley culture. This will be especially pronounced as Elon Musk brings his distinctive work and management ethos to Washington through his leadership of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency.

Randy Woods, Senior Vice President

With the rise of non-traditional media, power will shift to the host and audience

Last year, we predicted that the 2024 presidential election would get the Gen Z treatment, with non-traditional media like podcasts and TikTok turning into key battlegrounds. We were right: With Kamala Harris appearing on Call Her Daddy and Donald Trump on The Joe Rogan Experience, it’s clear that the heyday of traditional media is behind us.

As our guest speaker Dan Pfeiffer (Pod Save America) noted earlier this year, media platforms that exist somewhere in between traditional publications and peer-to-peer social media — such as podcasts, YouTube, TikTok and Substack — are increasingly vital. With this change comes a shift in power away from the spokesperson themselves and onto the host or reporter and their audience. For example, Joe Rogan invited Kamala Harris on his podcast – but the opportunity reportedly fell through when her team wanted him to travel to her (not vice versa) and limit the conversation to an hour. Even for such a high-tier potential guest, Rogan was unwilling to compromise on his typical podcast format and recording location – and his audience expects the same.

Going into 2025, we’ll see more and more spokespeople, however high tier, bending to the needs of the media figures interviewing them – or risk forgoing the valuable opportunity altogether.

Ella Rehman, Account Coordinator

Readers will follow the money of the paywall paradox

Traditional advertisements just aren’t cutting it for publications anymore — and haven’t for a long time — so paywalls have risen as unlikely champions for sales teams. For consumers, however, the proliferation of paywalls will fundamentally shift how we access and consume news. While paywalls might ensure better funding, they risk creating information silos and reducing broad public access to comprehensive news coverage (not everyone can afford monthly subscriptions, even when discounted on an annual basis). We’re moving towards a fragmented news ecosystem that will challenge traditional modes of information access.

Going into 2025, we’ll see people turn to aggregation platforms, like Apple News+, that offer bundled access to multiple paywalled publications for a single fee (similar to streaming services). Consumers will develop more selective and strategic approaches to news consumption, becoming more intentional about the news they analyze. Ultimately, this future will demand more active, deliberate engagement from readers, transforming them from passive consumers to information navigators.

Jessie Warner, Account Executive

AI-driven media will fall under the microscope

NY Magazine recently examined whether media can thrive with AI in the mix. Two opposing strategies emerged: suing AI companies for copyright infringement, as seen with the New York Times, or striking licensing deals to let content train AI models, as The Atlantic and Vox Media did. Jessica Lessin of The Information warned, “I worry that news organizations are going to keep taking money from AI companies and wake up and realize that wasn’t a strategy for growing their own audiences and businesses.”

As AI deepfakes and synthetic media blur the lines between real and fabricated content, media companies will face pressure to prioritize credibility with verification processes and transparent editorial standards. Regulatory scrutiny of AI-driven media is also likely to intensify. But as the industry navigates these paths, there’s a risk of losing sight of journalism’s core mission: to inform readers. Will 2025 be the year the media finds a sustainable way to coexist with AI – or the year it realizes the true cost of compromise?

Ali Fortin, Account Manager

We’ve spilled plenty of ink this year on AI’s inevitable march to ubiquity – and just two years since the launch of ChatGPT, it’s clear that the technology has begun to reshape our personal and professional lives. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Just like the rise of the internet, and the growth of mobile computing, AI is driving a fundamental shift. Today, though, that shift is stuck in a heap of buzzwords; as tech giants and startups alike race to offer the next fad, there’s a dearth of voices sharing real, actionable insights.

To shed some light on what we should be paying attention to in 2025, we caught up with VentureBeat’s senior AI reporter, Emilia David. Emilia covers AI broadly—a massive beat—but pays particular attention to AI orchestration, with an eye on how enterprises are bringing AI models into their applications and underlying tech stack. Read on for the tech trends she’s eyeing, and how both startups and established companies can set themselves apart in a crowded, noisy environment.

As always, we want to hear from you! Let us know your thoughts and feedback, and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and X.

Five questions with…Emilia David, VentureBeat.

AI is a fairly saturated acronym and industry now with lots of hype. Given that, what catches your eye when you’re looking for a story?

Well, the word orchestration for a start (lol). I think products/platforms that clearly differentiate themselves from competitors and very clearly show why enterprises should be interested in them, really catch my eye.

How are you covering AI and policy right now? [Note: We asked this question just before the U.S. presidential election.]

What's interesting is that enterprises are more concerned about AI policy in terms of how it affects their business. This means I don't really cover deep fakes anymore, but I'm very in tune with state-level policies that could limit business (SB 1047) and any discussion coming from the candidates on AI regulation and, increasingly, competitiveness.

What’s a trend you're noticing this year that might influence what and how you cover in 2025?

AI agents will definitely be an ongoing trend for me in 2025, but I think we'll see more discussion of costs, management and orchestration. In other words, I think next year, I'll really focus on the how’s of AI agents more than the why’s.

What do PR people need to know about working with you and VentureBeat? Are you taking pitches?

I don't like being pitched via phone call. Like the millennial I am, I keep phone calls to source interviews or my parents (or my super asking if there's a leak in my apartment). Other than that, my inbox does get full and while I inbox zero, sometimes I open an email and completely forget to reply. I'm sorry in advance. That's why I'm okay with a few follow-up emails. VentureBeat definitely takes pitches! We pitch most of our stories to editors these days, so even if I agree to an embargo, my editors will sometimes not greenlight it. But we love hearing about new projects, trends and thoughts around enterprise AI.

Note: We don't cover many funding rounds or anything more consumer-facing.

What are you reading right now?

For fun, I have an overdue library book called "Final Girl Support Group" by Grady Hendrix. I've also been slowly making my way through Pat Evangelista's "Some People Need Killing," about the Duterte administration's war on drugs in my home country, the Philippines. Fun fact: Pat is a friend and teammate from my college debate days. For work, whichever latest model research paper I'm writing about.

U.S. Presidential elections are times of change that extend beyond the political sphere, as they tend to reshape the media landscape and eventually usher in a new era of communications. Just as Ronald Reagan became the first TV President, Barack Obama will go down in history as the first Social Media President given his campaign’s deft use of Facebook and similar platforms. Since then, however, the social media ecosystem has shifted and balkanized; Meta has pulled back on political news, and X, which defined the 2016 and 2020 elections, arguably has lost some of its relevance. So what will we call the winner on November 5? Based on current campaign moves, it seems fair to call the victor the Podcast President. 

While the two camps have done a fair share of mainstream media, from sit-down interviews with broadcast and high-tier print publications, in recent weeks they have eschewed many of these outlets for appearances on podcasts and other niche forums. This has only accelerated in the final days of the campaign, as they sprint to reach voters via outlets once considered too fringe for national politics. Consider, for example, how Kamala Harris skipped an interview with Bloomberg News but made time for Call Her Daddy, We Can Do Hard Things, The Run-Up and Next Question, or how Donald Trump turned down 60 Minutes and joined Flagrant, the Shawn Ryan Show, Lex Fridman and Theo Von.

The Undecideds

This shift to podcasts has been well documented in outlets from Semafor to the LA Times and the Wall Street Journal. And it’s clear why it’s happening: Both candidates are trying to reach that small percentage of undecideds who will push them ahead in an exceedingly tight race. Those voters don’t typically read the New York Times or Wall Street Journal, watch CNN or Fox News, or listen to NPR. So while those mainstream outlets have massive reach, they do little to sway the constituents who increasingly count in elections where neck-and-neck is the new normal. And oftentimes, those voters are listening to podcasts about sports, entertainment, beer – the list goes on.

Of course, podcasts are nothing new, and candidates in past cycles have gravitated to popular shows. They too were targeting niche voters, and responding to a changing trend in politics where constituents want to see the human side of their elected representatives. But the pace of podcast appearances in 2024 has been unprecedented; nowadays candidates actively seek out Joe Rogan, The Shade Room or Barstool Sports’ various shows like never before, in a push to showcase their personalities and quirks. And in a twist on the PR strategy of going direct, podcasts allow guests to speak to their audience with fewer intermediaries, as the free-flowing, conversational style of podcasts lends itself to unfiltered dialogue. From a more cynical lens, these nontraditional outlets also don’t pose the risk of fact-checking or excessive pushback from hosts or editorial teams – they’re often hosted by entertainers, not journalists, and are not held to specific standards around truth, accuracy or editorial balance.

Permanent Transformation

To be sure, this doesn’t mean the end of mainstream media, as it still has the broad reach, general credibility and clout that politicians crave. When the election ends, they’ll want to speak to a wide swath of voters – not just the undecided who make up 4-5 percent of the electorate. There always will be tremendous value in reaching USA Today’s 94 million monthly views, or taking tough questions on NBC Nightly News to promote and defend new policies.  

But there’s no mistaking that, when the votes are counted, we’ll find that this election marked an inflection point in the media landscape. Elected leaders won’t turn their backs on podcasters only to re-engage when up for reelection, as they’ve seen the value of reaching the undecided and showcasing their humanity in a chat about cooking or football. And beltway junkies to some degree will look past Politico and The Hill for their news, knowing that podcasts provide the unique political insight they crave. 

For communications professionals, this future isn't better or worse than what we had – but it is messier, as consumption of information becomes stratified, and the lines between news and entertainment blur. It makes the job of campaign managers more difficult, as they have to expand the scope of outreach to ensure they're hitting the relevant voters. And in a similar vein, public relations will change, as teams will rely on an increasingly diverse set of outlets to deliver their messaging. While good PR teams are already doing that, the strategy will grow more complex as they target a growing number of mediums, and prepare their spokespeople for the different challenges (and pitfalls) that come with speaking to broadcast, mainstream print, trades, and of course, podcasts.

It's safe to say that the way we consume news has changed significantly, especially in recent years. Social media is a large contributor to this shift, with over half (54%) of U.S. adults turning to social platforms for news consumption. In 2024, 58% of U.S. adults shared that they prefer getting news on digital devices, with 32% choosing TV, and only 4% choosing print as a preferred medium. News organizations have had to adapt to the evolving landscape as traditional media continues to decline. 

The transition to digital-first journalism has impacted both the ways we consume media, and how newsrooms operate. Not only have news organizations turned to digital strategies to continue reaching readers, the shift has driven financial challenges, causing publications to seek new revenue models like paywalls. Now more than ever, news organizations are competing with social media platforms, blogs and other online content providers to keep readers engaged and many have turned to short form content and social media themselves to keep up with the evolving trends. 

Importance of Staying Informed During Key Moments 

With the 2024 presidential election quickly approaching, educating oneself is a critical part of our civic responsibility. It’s not enough just to show up and vote – we need to stay informed, as the decisions we make have the power to shape our future.

Self-education is crucial during major events like elections because context matters. A well-rounded understanding of key topics helps us make better decisions, not only for ourselves but for the greater good. Elections affect policies that touch almost every aspect of our lives. Almost 7 in 10 Americans are closely following news about 2024 presidential candidates leading up to the election, so it’s important to find resources that offer the most up-to-date information in order to feel confident that we’re making choices based on facts, not just opinions or misinformation.

It is true, however, that today’s media landscape makes this more challenging. We have more news than ever at our fingertips, but navigating it can often feel overwhelming, and it can be tough to discern what’s credible and what’s not. This is exactly why self-education and media literacy is so important. Taking the time to stay informed allows us to cut through the noise, so we can approach these decisions with confidence, knowing our they are grounded in real information.

Bottom line: being informed leads to better choices and stronger civic engagement. So, while it might take extra effort to stay on top of things in today's complex news environment, it’s worth it – because informed voters make a real difference. And that starts with finding the right outlets that work for you.

Finding the Right News for You 

As news consumers ourselves, it can be difficult to choose the best way to get the most up to date, accurate information, while being constantly bombarded with content. But to get straight to the point: there are so many good options out there; a lot of it comes down to finding what works for your lifestyle and learning style.

Decision fatigue is all too real, so we compiled some less traditional resources to access news ahead of the election and beyond to stay informed and educated on the current news cycle.

Newsletters 

• Newsletters are a great way to stay informed daily as they come directly into your inbox and many publications create campaign- and election-specific dailies in the lead-up. These are just a few:

  • Washington Post: The Campaign Moment

  • NBC News: From The Politics Desk

  • Fox News: Elections Newsletter

  • VOX: The election, explained

  • BBC: US Election Unspun

  • WIRED: Politics Lab

  • Politico: Playbook

  • electionline.org: Daily Election News

Podcasts

• Whether you’re listening on your commute to the office or while sipping your coffee, podcasts are an easy way to get your news ahead of the day. News organizations that publish daily rundowns include:

  • Up First from NPR

  • CNN 5 Things

  • The Daily by The New York Times

  • The Journal by The Wall Street Journal

  • What’s News by The Wall Street Journal

  • Apple News Today

  • Start Here by ABC News

  • The Excerpt by USA Today

  • Morning Brew Daily

• Election-specific podcasts:

  • The NPR Politics Podcast

  • The Run-Up by The New York Times

  • The Fox News Rundown

  • The Campaign Moment by The Washington Post

  • Political Gabfest by Slate

  • Pod Save America

  • FiveThirtyEight Politics by ABC News

Social media

• Almost half of U.S. adults under 30 (46%) most commonly use social media for political news, and it can be a great resource – as long as you’re cautious about where the information is coming from. Most major news organizations have social media accounts where they share the latest news and link to articles, so if you’re following a verified source, social media is a great way to be in-the-know. 

In this wide-ranging interview, Moises discusses how he goes about covering a new country and market every few years; his work writing about the immigrant experience in the United States; AFP’s coverage of the migrant crisis in the Americas; and how journalists will adapt to the changing demands of readers – and the role AI can play in the future of journalism.

BN: You’ve made a career of changing countries in the Americas – Peru, Chile, Brazil, Cuba and now the United States – and digging into each one. How do you get started learning about the country, its culture and economy when you arrive?

MAR: As a foreign correspondent who changes countries every three or five years, you start to understand that an important part of your job is learning how to live in your new destination. For example, in the case of Cuba, a colleague of mine used to say that 70% of your work in Havana was to live in Havana. Cuba is completely different from everything we know – from the way you buy your groceries to the way you contact sources for a story.

When you go to a new destination, of course it’s important to learn about its history, events, culture and traditions; that helps. But nothing compares to walking the country, using their public transportation, eating what they love the most, and trying to understand what they are proud of. You need to connect and talk to people to understand what’s going on and what kind of stories could be attractive.

The other important thing is being respectful. It sounds like something basic and obvious, but sometimes we forget about it. You can make the mistake of thinking that, given your experience traveling the world and writing about it, you know more than your sources, and they’re somehow obligated to answer you. You have to put away your “correspondent hero costume” and take off your sunglasses. People need to feel confident and look you directly in the eyes when you're trying to talk or conduct an interview; they must see you as a regular human being. So when you land the interview, you have to listen. 

I also think paying attention to local press, blogs, and podcasts is important. You can learn a lot from them; they have their fingers on the pulse of society and can offer details that will guide you and help you find a good angle for your story. 

I also worked in Panama and other countries in Central America and the Caribbean. They say that in the Caribbean, you can be whatever you want to be, but never a pain in the neck. You can’t just show up or call somebody asking for an immediate answer when they have their own pace and rhythm. If you insist too much, your request will go to the bottom of the pile.

BN: Your articles cover a wide range of topics from national politics to local news – which beat do you find most challenging or rewarding? How have these interests evolved throughout your career?

MAR: I started my career as a breaking news radio reporter in Lima, Peru. I think that experience gave me the tools to quickly structure my stories, easily find what news is, and report precisely and concisely. 

I’m grateful for how my career evolved. I started covering accidents on the street, gaining experience in the day-to-day before reporting from the Peruvian Congress and Government Palace, as well as traveling with presidents on official foreign visits. Then I became a national politics reporter in a newspaper.

All that experience helped me a lot when I started to work as a correspondent, first in a newspaper and then in news agencies. Being a foreign correspondent allows you to work on several subjects, from the economy to natural disasters, and tie them all together to tell a complete story. For instance, a hurricane in Texas affects lives, of course, and that’s our prime coverage and priority in a general news agency, but it also impacts oil and gas operations and that could influence prices, inflation, and markets, for example, and that story needs to be told.

They say that journalists have an ocean of knowledge that’s an inch deep. I’d argue we have a little more depth in certain areas – particularly those that we cover the most. 

Natural disasters are particularly challenging and dangerous; you have to be careful. And nowadays, it’s tough to deal with extremist movements because you don’t know how things are going to end; you’re covering people who may be confused and afraid, and obsessed with ideas that make them behave a certain way.

BN: What has surprised you about covering the immigration community in Houston?

MAR: Houston is a very diverse and cosmopolitan city. There’s a predominantly Latino community, where Mexicans are the majority, but you can find a strong presence of Asian, African, Indian, and Arabic communities. All of them are bricks that build this society.

I think that, decades ago, Latinos tried to “blend in” to avoid discrimination, and erased part of their cultural expressions – mostly with their language. For example, they sometimes didn’t allow their kids to speak Spanish. But in a state like Texas, which once belonged to Mexico and has similar cultural expressions, it’s impossible to erase their origins and ancestral manifestations. I see more people proud of being Latino and speaking Spanish as well as English in the U.S. You have multicultural and multilingual authorities in neighborhoods, cities, and within the police. 

All that said: It has been difficult to find a good Peruvian restaurant in Houston. (I was told there are good ones in New Jersey.)

BN: Congratulations on winning the Inter-American Press Association’s award for your documentary, “Nothing is Impossible: The Odyssey of a Migrant from Venezuela to the United State.” Can you tell us a little bit about your role in that story, and how it came together?

MAR: Thank you so much. AFP took advantage of the fact that reporters are deployed in almost all the countries in South, Central and North America. This plan started a few years ago when I was working in Panama. Our team traveled to Bajo Chiquito, the city where migrants arrive after they finish their transit through the Darien Gap. It’s hard because after that journey, the last thing people want to do is talk to a journalist. They are tired, afraid, hungry and hurt. It’s possible that they saw someone die. We needed to be careful and respectful.

The idea was to humanize this migration crisis because it’s usually summed up as a number or a political problem. We wanted to showcase the voice and story of those who were directly suffering; we wanted to follow a migrant and their family along their journey north to the United States.

We tried several times but, on some occasions, individuals lost their phones or had other priorities, rather than answering a journalist while they were struggling during the trip.

Finally Marcel, a Venezuelan migrant who lost his leg in an accident years ago, accepted our request. It was mid-2023 when our video journalist spoke with him. We activated all our teams to be ready to track him in Central America and Mexico. In my case, I had to be ready when he decided to cross the Rio Grande and try to register if he finally made it because, as we know, one of the options could be deportation.

One key point here is that we couldn’t interfere with his decisions for our filming purposes. For example, we couldn’t say, “Please, don’t cross today, because Moises hasn’t arrived in Brownsville yet.” That’s impossible. If he decided to cross at night (as he did), our team had to be ready.

We also asked him to film himself and his family with his cellphone during the journey and to share with us the images he wanted to share. With this approach, we respected his privacy and had still had precious moments on camera.

It helped that I had covered the border months before, because we knew the possible route he would use to surrender to the Border Patrol and where he would be taken. It was dark and the only way to identify him from the distance, in the middle of dozens of migrants that crossed with him, was to yell his name. He waved. We were behind a fence, 200 meters away. 

He was released after three days and we interviewed him in McAllen. There, he told us about his journey.

BN: Do you think those ways of telling a story – multimedia, with reporters collaborating across countries and mediums – will grow in number and popularity?

MAR: I think it’s a good alternative. People are consuming information differently. Traditional readers prefer books and maybe a long, well-written story. That’s good, but we need to adapt to new generations that are scrolling social media and swiping away the content they don’t want to see or watching short episodes via streaming. 

AI also has the power to universalize a story that could only be written in Spanish. For example, AI can translate a story into several languages with accuracy and style and without losing its spirit. This is the same with translations for videos and podcasts. This could happen soon, if it’s not happening already. We can take advantage of AI and spread our stories faster and better.

But what AI can’t do (yet) is go on the ground and talk to people, wait for the precise moment to film a situation, and have human-to-human interaction – which is pure gold for a story. AI needs raw material to create something. It can be a win-win. (I say that in case Skynet reads this interview and considers it when the moment of human extermination arrives. Apologies for my GenX reference.)

The tech industry has always been global, with semiconductor supply chains spanning the planet and investors like Softbank working across continents, all while the internet and cloud computing eschew borders. The 2020s further cemented the industry as an always-on force, given the growth of foreign investment in startups and digital infrastructure as well as the escalating race for AI supremacy among world economic powers.

Communications must adapt accordingly, and take into account international storytelling. Sometimes, this means leveraging regional expertise to break into local trade publications. Other times, this entails finding a specific global or cross-regional impact of a story that will appeal to a reporter at a multinational publication. At SBS, we do this often – with that in mind, we decided to check in with CNBC’s Ryan Browne, who is based in the publication’s London office. Ryan covers technology, but prefers to break it down into three big buckets: Big Tech, policy & regulation, and emerging or “future” technologies, like AI and crypto.

Ryan works with U.S.-based companies frequently, but is ultimately responsible for keeping a pulse on tech out of Europe – an enormous undertaking, and one that he breaks down below.

As always, we want to hear from you! Let us know your thoughts and feedback, and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and X. 

Five questions with…Ryan Browne, CNBC

CNBC has had some big changes in the past year, at least in the U.S. newsroom. From your perspective, how have things changed in your seven years at the pub? What hasn’t?

I’m speaking about the international perspective here, so please don’t take the below as commenting in any way on the U.S. side of CNBC (which is, I admit, most of it). 

Things have definitely changed from an output perspective. We are less about pumping out tons of stories every day for the sake of hitting numbers, and more about ensuring quality reporting and picking out the stories that generate a higher ROI (both for us and, if we’re doing it right, our readers!) 

Things that haven’t changed? Well, I’m still here! And so is my direct line manager – and managing editor of CNBC. And so is my closest colleague, Senior Tech Correspondent Arjun Kharpal. Many other colleagues who’ve been here a long time and who I respect very, very highly. And, we are just as tight knit and close as colleagues as we’ve ever been, which is always going to be a good thing!

You’re based in London, and you have a focus on European companies and news, but you’ve covered major U.S. and global stories as well. How should PR people—and the companies they work with—think about your coverage areas?

My best advice is to check out my author profile page! What are the stories I’m writing, and what is missing there that you think I’m not paying attention to and that you (or your client) have got something valuable to say on?

There is no “secret,” to be honest, and I can’t respond to every pitch that comes through. But my biggest piece of advice is to just understand the reporter you’re trying to get in touch with. What are the trends / topics that make them tick? I’m a sucker for emerging / future technologies and how the biggest tech companies are using and applying them in their operations. And, it has to be said: I will always be more focused on the bigger tech companies – Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, OpenAI, etc. In Europe, it’s usually more the fintechs/bigger tech unicorns by market cap: Klarna, Revolut, Monzo, Starling Bank, etc.

I’m less likely to read a pitch that involves a smaller / early stage startup. But, if your startup is doing something that is genuinely groundbreaking and / or not being done in a way that others are doing it, the likelihood is that’ll pique my interest. Another tip I have here, on a pure “editorial focus” slant, is that it’ll always be slightly more interesting for our readers if such startups are attracting either funding or partnership interest from large tech and / or enterprise firms. So that’s always a bonus. Oh, and I prefer a company that’s at least making above £100m revenue as a rule (but that can’t always be the case, obviously – esp. with startups!)

You covered a ton of crypto stories during the industry’s early 2020s heyday. Are you looking to do more of that, or have you (and more broadly, the mainstream media) moved on?

I still cover crypto intermittently. But it is much lower volume than 2020 / 2021, for sure. The market just isn’t as mad as it used to be back then. Today the main tech getting the market buzz and attention is (obviously) AI. So that tends to be where focus shifts – we focus on what our readers are focusing on, and vice versa (I know, it’s a bit “chicken and egg!”) But, yes, in a long-winded response to your Q, I am still interested in crypto stories. Again, it goes back to “why is this interesting to us” in the sense of, what does it do that’s genuinely “new” and different to what others are doing.

What do PR people need to know about working with you and CNBC? 

Pitches – drop it to me on email. But let’s follow up on WhatsApp. Always better than back and forth’ing it on email (not that I’m completely averse to that as well! Just a pure preference I have).

What are you reading right now?

I’m reading what our competitors write. Can’t help it, haha. Loved this story last week from the Financial Times about OpenAI actively telling investors not to back rival AI startups. Always love a good “AI is cutthroat” inside-baseball industry story.

I haven’t enjoyed a good book in a while, sadly. But the best business book I’ve read in a few years is “Money Men” by Dan McCrum. It’s a fascinating inside look at the wild story behind Wirecard, the German payments company, and their rise and fall.

In the race against climate change, communication might just be our most powerful tool. As breakthrough technologies emerge and policy landscapes shift, the challenge isn't just developing solutions — it's ensuring they're understood and embraced by business leaders, policymakers, investors and the general public. Few understand this better than Josh Garrett, a veteran in climate tech communications who's been translating complex innovations into compelling narratives for over a decade.

From the beginnings of a heating oil collective to the cutting edge of clean fusion, Garrett's journey mirrors the rapid evolution of the climate tech sector itself. Today, he’s CEO and co-founder of Redwood Climate Communications, SBS Comms’ climate-focused partner agency, where he helps clients like The Nature Conservancy, Mast Reforestation and Electric Hydrogen achieve their business goals through strategic communication and storytelling. We sat down with him to explore the art of climate communication, the industry's most exciting breakthroughs, and why he believes we're only at the beginning of the clean energy revolution.

Let us know your thoughts, and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and X. If you’re a journalist or comms professional who’d like to connect for a future edition of Briefing Notes, reach out at hello@sbscomms.com 

Five questions with…Josh Garrett, Redwood Climate Communications

SBS Comms: Can you give a brief overview of your professional background and why you decided to get into climate tech comms?

Josh Garrett: I was always a communicator. I majored in English and Theater as an undergrad, and then picked up a few jobs in marketing and advertising. When I moved from LA to New York in 2008, jobs were very hard to find, so I took the first one I could that had anything to do with writing and communicating, and that happened to be for a heating oil collective, which was totally new to me. During that time, I learned that if you take biodiesel made from cooking grease and put it in a heating oil tank, it works just as well as regular heating oil and creates 80% fewer emissions. That blew my mind and led me down the rabbit hole of clean energy technology, and the things I discovered continued to blow my mind.

I realized, “It's 2009 and we figured out the whole energy problem. We know how to use energy in a way that doesn't create emissions, or at least as many emissions. These technologies are here, they're just not out in the world, being disseminated and used widely.” My thesis was that we need policy backing, investment, and public support to get these technologies out there and realize those potential gains in terms of reducing emissions and curbing climate change. And that's a communications problem. You have to convince investors, policymakers and the public that this is a great idea. We need to get on to these clean energy technologies and off fossil fuels as quickly as possible.

That made me realize, “I'm already in this business. What if I just applied my whole job to solving those problems?” I decided to do that. I went to Columbia, got my master's in environmental science and policy to build a foundation for the new focus of my career. And then it was off to the races.

SBS: You mentioned you saw a communication problem. Do you think we're any closer to resolving that?

JG: I think we're closer than we were in 2008, but we're about 1% in that direction, where I would have loved to be 100%. So certainly, trending in the right direction, but I think the progress is just too slow. We need to speed it up. And I think we need more professional and talented communicators hammering away at that problem.

SBS: And you mentioned this idea of converting cooking oil into fuel. Are there other big changes in the climate tech industry that have surprised you in recent years?

JG: That’s one of the things I love about working in this category. And I like to call it a category because it's not an industry; it's many, many different industries. And the surprising technologies come fast and furious, and if you pay attention, you'll see amazing breakthroughs like nuclear, which is generating electricity with nuclear energy in a way that is essentially perfectly clean, much less dangerous, and almost completely self-perpetuating. We’re not there yet, but there have been major breakthroughs.

There’s also battery technology, where lithium-ion batteries that store clean electricity (or any electricity) have gone down in price and up in capacity. It’s not very sexy, but it's super important. After all, energy storage gives us the kind of flexibility that's going to be a huge advantage when it comes to making our whole electricity system cleaner.

SBS: When you talk to the press about these types of technologies, do you see that they're receptive to covering them, or do they see them as pie in the sky? And what I'm getting at here are the unique challenges to doing PR for clean tech.

JG: Just like tech PR, you can pitch a company that has a great idea and they have a few million dollars of investment, but no reporter is going to care because it's not real. It’s the same with climate tech, maybe even more so. Ten years ago, just the idea of clean energy was enough to get reporter buy-in; those days are long gone, with good reason. It's part of the evolution of a collection of industries. Reporters we pitch tend to be savvy. They've seen a lot of these technologies come and go. We must show we understand the context and the technology, and can provide proof points – investments, deployments, contracts signed. And we've gotten very good at getting those facts out of our clients.

SBS: Are you finding that there are fewer reporters covering these types of technologies?

JG: Actually, no. Something that we have going for us on the climate tech side is that, even as newsrooms shrink, the slice of the pie that climate-related beats are taking up is growing ever so slightly. It’s not universal; CNBC laid off their entire climate reporting team just a few months ago, which was terrible. But because the climate crisis is all encompassing, reporters across beats find themselves covering climate and climate technology; they’re looking at workplace technology or economics or the insurance industry and coming across connections to the climate crisis organically. Climate is massively influencing a multitude of industries, so we interact with different reporters across multiple beats.