In today’s ‘always-on’ information economy, the use of AI tools in mental health conversations is becoming increasingly evident, influencing how healthcare communicators engage, educate, and advocate for wellbeing services.
Telum Media spoke to Matt Cram, Head of Media and Communications at youth mental health institute, Orygen, to explore how AI algorithms are affecting mental health narratives, shaping the value of traditional media, and being leveraged for more trusted, accessible, and impactful mental health discussions.
How is the 'always-on' information economy reshaping the way healthcare communicators approach mental health narratives?
In an always-on world, stories about anything, including health, can take off and change shape in minutes. That can be exciting, but it also raises the stakes. We need to keep accuracy and clarity front and centre, and move quickly without feeding misinformation. Balance is important - being responsive without losing responsibility and being agile, while keeping messaging clear and concise.
What hasn’t changed are the building blocks of good communication: case studies, lived experience stories, and strong evidence, these are still what resonate with audiences. If anything, they’re even more important now because they anchor our messages when conversations are moving so fast.
And while the information economy is always on, our brands don’t need to mimic that. This was one of the big lessons in my move from journalism to health communications. We need to be 'always on' in terms of listening and monitoring, but we don’t need to be constantly talking. If you try to fill every moment, you risk becoming part of the noise. Choosing when to show up - and making sure you actually add value when you do - is what keeps your voice trusted and impactful.
How is AI changing the role of earned, traditional, and regulated media in mental health communications - both in terms of amplifying their value and potentially undermining it?
Earned and traditional media still matter enormously. Many AI algorithms are trained on, or fuelled by, this content. When your message lands in a credible outlet, it’s not just reaching readers and viewers, it’s also feeding the machines that will repackage and serve that information to new audiences. All the more reason to make sure what you put out is accurate and on message.
At the same time, AI is blurring the line between what’s legitimate and what’s confected. That risk only makes trusted voices more valuable. When people are swimming in AI-generated noise, established, regulated media serve as touchstones of credibility.
On the flip side, AI has made the creation of strong digital content easier and more accessible than ever. That’s a warning shot to traditional media: if they don’t keep evolving their relevance and depth, they risk being bypassed by brands and organisations, who can now publish credible content directly to audiences.
And of course, it’s all moving so fast that some of what I’ve just said could be obsolete within a month - that’s how quickly the landscape is shifting.
As AI becomes more embedded in healthcare comms, particularly around mental health, what strategies have you adopted to preserve the human empathy and tone that are essential for building trust?
AI can be a useful support tool, but it can’t replace the way people connect through empathy, creativity, and lived experiences. When everything starts to sound the same, when outputs drift toward homogeneity, that’s exactly when distinctive human voices stand out most. The stories that cut through are the ones only a person could tell - with warmth, context, and care.
For me, it’s about using AI in the background rather than the foreground. It can help with brainstorming and sense-checking, but there’s always a human review before anything goes out - especially in mental health, where tone and nuance really matter.
And the other piece is making sure lived experience is central in your messaging. That’s not something you can outsource to an algorithm. The empathy and authenticity that come from people sharing their realities are irreplaceable and keep trust at the heart of all communications - from the PR to the mental health training and resources our organisation delivers for young people, parents, and clinicians.
What practical strategies can healthcare communicators use to influence generative AI and search to ensure that credibility, accuracy, and public interest are prioritised?
One of the biggest things we’ve learned is that AI doesn’t just surface information, it consumes it. That means the way we structure and present content really matters.
Using plain language, clear evidence, and formats that AI can easily ingest helps ensure reliable information is what gets pulled through. In the Orygen communications team, we talk about ‘telling the internet who we are’. Every digital publishing opportunity adds to our footprint, so we find as many as we can and treat each one in a deliberate and unified fashion - another chance to show a consistent, credible brand.
Partnerships are just as important. Working with regulators, researchers, and health organisations makes it more likely that credible, well-sourced material is not only published but also picked up and prioritised. It strengthens both the signal and the source.
But again, if I read like I’ve got all the answers, I don’t. We’re all constantly learning here. The way AI and search behave is shifting so quickly that the best strategies today might look very different tomorrow, and that’s why one of the important tasks for communicators in 2025 is to constantly stay abreast of the latest trends and news in this space.
There’s truth in this saying: “AI isn’t coming for everyone’s job, it’s coming for the jobs of people who don’t know how to use AI.”
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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.
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