Thailand’s communications industry is undergoing rapid change as media consumption shifts across social platforms, creator communities, and digital channels. For communicators, understanding how audiences discover and engage with information has become increasingly complex.
To explore how these shifts are shaping the Thai PR landscape, Telum spoke with Shaun Pham, CEO & Founder of Spotlight Asia. In mapping the changes, he shares how the country’s communications industry is adapting to the evolving media ecosystems and audience behaviour with creativity and integrity.
Social platforms reshaping newsrooms, audiences, influences and storytelling
In Thailand, audiences discover news, trends, and lifestyle content through social media and online communities, particularly Facebook groups that focus on topics ranging from lifestyle and entertainment to politics and beauty. For communicators, these platforms have become an increasingly important part of the broader media ecosystem.
Influence, meanwhile, is shifting toward creators and personalities who feel authentic and relatable to their audiences.
“It’s not always about reaching the biggest audience,” Shaun explained. “Sometimes a smaller but highly relevant target audience can deliver stronger impact because the message resonates directly with the people you want to reach.” He also emphasised that as the audiences consume information in shorter, faster formats, which traditional media in Thailand has adapted to create a social-first content.
Alongside these shifts in media consumption, Thailand’s reputation for bold and creative campaigns continues to shape its communications landscape. Shaun said that rather than relying solely on informational messaging, brands are increasingly focusing on storytelling that entertains, engages, and creates emotional connections with audiences.
“Communication that feels entertaining and relatable often resonates more than direct or hard-selling messaging,” he said. Shaun also highlighted that creativity is most effective when it is grounded in local culture and tied to clear business outcomes, especially in the market.
This creative mindset should also be reflected in the public relations sector. Shaun recalls a campaign for a Sriracha sauce producer that highlighted the value of experiential storytelling.
Although the brand was widely recognised internationally, local consumers were less familiar with its story. Instead of relying solely on media outreach, the agency created an experience that invited journalists and creators to visit the sauce producer’s factory, meet the people behind the product, and observe the production process first-hand.
The initiative, Shaun explained, generated strong media interest while allowing journalists to connect more directly with the brand.
“Today, it’s not just about sending out information,” he said. “It’s about designing experiences that help people connect with the story behind the brand.” He believes that the most effective campaigns should combine strong storytelling with a clear distribution strategy across the right media and journalists, so it drives real consideration and action, not just views.
From traditional PR to integrated communications
As audience behaviour evolves, agencies in Thailand are adapting their services to reflect changing client expectations.
“PR today is no longer just about press releases or press conferences,” Shaun remarked. “Campaigns now integrate media relations, creators, partnerships, events, and digital channels as part of a broader communications ecosystem.”
This shift also reflects how audiences in Thailand, particularly younger consumers, are engaging with content across platforms. “Long-term strategy needs to move away from campaign bursts toward always-on communications,” Shaun said. “Staying relevant means moving where the consumer lives.”
He cited Free Fire as an example where Garnier Men collaborated with the game to connect with its male audience in a more native environment, integrating the brand into the platforms where consumers are already spending time.
This shift has also shaped the evolution of his own agency. Originally launched as Spotlight PR, the firm later rebranded as Spotlight Asia as its services expanded beyond traditional public relations to include broader communications and campaign strategy.
Despite these changes, Shaun noted that traditional media continues to play an important role in building credibility, particularly in an era where digital fatigue is high and the rise of AI-generated content has created a credibility crisis.
“Traditional media has become a brand’s anchor of legitimacy,” he said. “While digital provides speed, formats like out-of-home act as a ‘safety signal’ for Thai consumers.”
He explained that highly visible placements, such as mass transit takeovers, reinforce a brand’s presence in the real world and signal trustworthiness. This, in turn, strengthens the effectiveness of digital and creator-led campaigns that follow.
“It works best as part of an ecosystem,” he added. “Traditional media builds initial trust, which then drives curiosity and engagement across platforms like TikTok or search.”
Navigating Thailand’s increasingly complex media ecosystem
“In Thailand, PR has moved from a single-channel discipline into a network of touchpoints across media, social platforms, and creators,” he said. “The challenge now is understanding how these channels work together to influence audiences.”
He added that as content consumption becomes more fragmented, brands must balance cultural relevance with consistency across platforms, ensuring they remain present in the spaces where Thai audiences are most active.
While emerging technologies such as AI may improve efficiency, Shaun emphasised that tools cannot replace human insight.
“AI can help with efficiency, but it cannot replace strategic thinking,” he explained. “Understanding audiences, culture, and storytelling will always remain central to communications.”
As the Thai media ecosystem continues to evolve, Shaun believes the market offers useful lessons for communicators across the region.
“Ultimately, communications is about connecting with people,” he said. “The platforms and tools will continue to change, but meaningful storytelling will always remain at the core of what we do.
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Every few years, someone declares the death of the media release.
Today, the arguments sound familiar. Journalists don't read them anymore. Everything is social-first. AI is replacing traditional media outreach. It's all about the pitch. Press releases are becoming little more than AI-generated filler.
And yet, when we speak with journalists across Asia Pacific and the Middle East, a different picture emerges.
Media releases aren't dead, but expectations around them have changed significantly.
We've analysed more than 10,000 Journalist Interest Survey responses in the Telum Media platform collected over the past five years, alongside insights gathered from conversations with editors, reporters, and producers across the region.
Key takeaways:
- Journalists still value useful PR content
- Relevance matters more than reach
- The pitch and the release serve different roles
- The best releases reduce friction for journalists
- Modern releases need to support multiple platforms
The conclusion is clear: journalists still value media releases, but they value them for different reasons than they once did.
The media release has evolved from a distribution tool into something far more strategic.
The media release is no longer the story
For decades, many PR professionals treated the media release as the centrepiece of media relations activity.
Write the release. Send it widely. Hope for coverage - “spray and pray”.
That approach was far from perfect, but you could get away with it in an era when newsrooms were larger, competition for attention was lower, and journalists had more time to evaluate incoming information.
Today's reality is very different.
Journalists are producing content across multiple platforms, often with smaller teams and tighter deadlines. Their inboxes are flooded with pitches, announcements, thought leadership submissions, and increasingly, AI-generated content.
As a result, journalists have become far more selective about what earns their attention.
The modern media release is no longer just about news stories. It has become a source-of-truth asset, a newsroom resource, and a content hub that supports broader communications activity.
The best PR teams understand this shift.
“The strongest message from journalists can be summarised in a single phrase: ‘Understand what I cover’. Relevance remains the most important factor in successful media engagement.”
What journalists are actually rejecting
One of the most revealing findings from our analysis is that journalists are not rejecting PR content altogether.
What they're rejecting is low-value outreach.
Across thousands of responses, the same frustrations appeared repeatedly:
- Irrelevant pitches
- Generic outreach
- Mass distribution
- Weak story angles
- Excessive follow-ups
In other words, this is less a rejection of media releases and more a rejection of poor media relations practice.
The strongest message from journalists can be summarised in a single phrase:
"Understand what I cover."
Relevance remains the most important factor in successful media engagement. In fact, our journalist surveys over the past two years have seen a sharp increase in a desire for both relevance and personalisation in pitches.
Journalists increasingly assess pitches within seconds. If the connection to their beat, audience, or current priorities isn't immediately obvious, the opportunity is often lost before the email is even opened.
The pitch and the release have different jobs
One of the biggest misconceptions in modern media relations is treating the pitch and the release as the same thing.
They are not.
The pitch exists to earn attention; the release exists to support the story.
The best pitches are:
- Brief
- Human
- Relevant
- Contextual
- Conversational
The best releases are:
- Structured
- Factual
- Complete
- Reusable
- Easy to reference
At a recent Telum Media event, a senior journalist described the fastest way to kill a pitch with a single word: “Respect”. Or a lack thereof.
A generic greeting. A story unrelated to their beat. A mass-produced email that demonstrates no understanding of their audience.
All signal a lack of respect for the journalist's time and expertise.
High-performing PR teams increasingly write pitches and releases for different audiences. The pitch is written for the journalist. The release is written for the journalist's audience.
That distinction matters.
Why journalists still value media releases
Despite predictions of their demise, journalists continue to actively request media releases.
But they want releases that help them work more efficiently.
The most common requests include concise writing, clear headlines, strong news angles, supporting data (with downloadable images and assets), spokesperson access, and easy-to-use formats.
These preferences reveal the modern role of the release: it functions as a workflow tool.
A strong release helps journalists:
- Understand the story quickly
- Verify information
- Access supporting materials
- Build content efficiently
The best releases reduce friction. And in today's newsroom environment, reducing friction is often more valuable than generating hype.
Think beyond media coverage
Another major shift is that media releases are increasingly serving multiple audiences.
A modern release doesn’t just support journalists; it might also support clients and prospects, employees, investors and analysts, partners, and search visibility.
Rather than creating a single-use document, leading communications teams are building content ecosystems.
The release becomes the foundation for:
- Media outreach
- Newsroom content
- Executive communications
- Social media content
- Email campaigns
- Sales collateral
- Thought leadership activity
This approach not only improves consistency but also increases the return on investment from every announcement.
The role of the modern media release
Not every story needs a release
Perhaps one of the most important lessons is recognising when a media release is the wrong tool.
Releases tend to perform best when there is:
- Genuine news value
- Multiple stakeholder audiences
- A need for factual consistency
- Strong supporting assets
- Broader business significance
They are often less effective for internal milestones framed as major news (or self-congratulatory announcements), generic thought leadership, and untargeted mass outreach.
In some situations, a targeted pitch, LinkedIn strategy, executive commentary programme, or direct relationship-based outreach may be more effective.
Good communications strategy isn't about defaulting to a media release; it's about choosing the right tool for the objective.
A framework for modern media releases
If there is one word that captures what journalists are asking for today, it is respect.
At Telum Media, we summarise this through the RESPECT framework:
R – Relevance
Make it relevant to the journalist, their audience and the moment.
E – Efficiency
Help journalists work faster through clear, concise, and usable content.
S – Substance
Provide genuine value through expertise, data, insight, or access.
P – Personalisation
Demonstrate that you've done your homework.
E – Ecosystem
Think beyond the release and consider how it supports broader communications goals.
C – Clarity
Make the key message immediately obvious.
T – Timing
Reach out at the right time, not simply any time.
What journalists are asking for in a pitch / media release: RESPECT
The future of the media release
The debate over whether media releases are dead misses the point.
The more useful question is how do we make releases work better in today’s media environment?
Journalists still value relevant information, credible sources, strong story angles, and efficient communication. Media releases continue to play an important role in delivering those things.
But success today depends less on the existence of the release itself and more on how strategically it is used.
The media release remains a valuable communications tool.
Just not in the way many of us were taught to use it.
FAQs
Are media releases still useful in 2026?
Yes. Journalists still value media releases, but these days want targeted outreach, relevance to their beat, alignment with their audience, and contextual pitching.
What makes a media release useful to journalists?
Journalists are looking for releases in a format that helps them work efficiently. Which means releases that are concise, factual, with a clear angle, contain usable quotes, and come with downloadable assets and supporting data.
What is the difference between a pitch and a media release?
A pitch earns the journalist’s attention in their cluttered Inbox. A media release supports the story by providing structured, factual, and reusable information relevant to their audience.
With more than 30 years’ experience spanning journalism, corporate communications and media intelligence, Reuben Aitchison is Telum Media’s Head of Insights and Communications.
Explore Telum Media tools that help PR teams pitch with precision.
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