Energy reporters: ‘Communicators can help us humanize complex stories’

Top energy journalists discussed the types of stories that matter most to today’s audiences, the value of public and media relations professionals, the do's and don’ts of story pitching, and the keys to building long-term relationships with sources and subject matter experts, at a "Meet the Energy Media" Lunch & Learn session sponsored by the National Press Club’s Communicators Team on Aug. 19.

Participating panelists were Zack Colman of Politico, Rachel Frazin of The Hill, Timothy Gardner of Reuters, Josh Lederman of NBC New, Ivan Penn of The New York Times and Pippa Stevens of CNBC.

The conversation’s top takeaways included:

• News consumers are highly interested in the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, off-shore wind, lithium availability, climate change, extreme weather events, community solar, gas prices, resiliency of the power grid, ESG investing, renewable energy technologies, carbon capture, and the future of the oil and gas industry. 
•  News editors and producers are devoting more coverage to stories about the nation’s clean energy transition and its impact on local economies. 
•  As billions of public dollars are made available for clean energy infrastructure, reporters say they will continue to scrutinize spending as well as the Biden administration’s plan for a carbon-free power system by 2035. 
• Ground-level energy workers (i.e. solar panel and wind turbine installers) remain in high demand for media interviews. 
•  Public and media relations professionals are needed now more than ever to connect journalists to data, subject matter experts and real people, and to help humanize complex energy stories.
•  Energy reporters have specific beats; successful story pitches and relationship building hinge on communicators researching the journalist’s previous articles prior to reaching out and managing their expectations of coverage. 
• Journalists are more often turning to social media to develop sources, grow audiences and gauge reaction to headlines; communicators can take advantage of their screen time by direct messaging and/or comments. 

Learn more about the Communicators Team here.