Guaranteed media coverage? Major red flag
There are several falsehoods about public relations. Some, although infuriating, carry humorous images, such as being a wielder of the ‘dark arts’, depicting PR professionals as scurrying around in Harry Potter-style cloaks. Or the idea that being mates with a journalist instantly results in a non-story, miraculously appearing on the front of The Times.
One that is not humorous is the concept of guaranteeing coverage. The complete certainty provided by nefarious PR ‘professionals’ that they can secure coverage on any given story, without question or analysis of information.
It’s not a new concept. It reared its ugly head over 15 years ago, but despite extensive screaming from the ethical side of the fence to “RUN A MILE” if you hear it, it is still regularly touted as a legitimate business model. Something I personally was disheartened to come up against in 2026.
There are no guarantees with PR. Securing earned media – unpaid coverage achieved through excellent storytelling – is something to celebrate because it demonstrates that the content deserves the audience’s time and that you are the expert to listen to.
What a respected and ethical agency can guarantee is strategic counsel, which will likely result in positive PR coverage. If you have an A-list celebrity who has just landed on the moon, there is 99% chance the story will result in coverage, but even then it depends on the news agenda and the details around the story. As Katy Perry learned the hard way, going into space is not always celebrated.
Doing PR for PR’s sake is not going to cement your position as a trusted leader in your field. Securing coverage is the final piece of a large jigsaw that has been delicately put together behind the scenes. Key parts of the puzzle are deciphering what you want to achieve, analysing the risks, and assessing how the messaging will stand up in months or years to come.
At Black Letter Communications, we have been asked to guarantee coverage on multiple occasions over the years. Our decline has, on occasion, led some to seek legal PR support elsewhere. But once the mask slips, they usually return.
The rise of fake experts being quoted in legitimate publications and fake news websites set up to publish press releases has only sullied the waters further, and it is troubling to watch. Although AI has further facilitated much of this industry-damaging behaviour by flooding journalists with fake or fabricated stories (bear with me, I know we are all sick of AI), it has also raised standards by valuing high-authority earned media for search-generated answers. These cannot be achieved without a clear PR strategy behind every story.
At the heart of all public relations and journalism is trust. Trust that the source is legitimate, the information is correct, and that your hired comms expert is going to provide honest counsel, even when it’s not what you hoped to hear.
A good legal PR agency should also be your partner, educating its clients on how the media operates, what makes a good story, and how to tell it, while offering a reality check when needed. If someone guarantees that a press release covering sponsorship of a golf day is going to make it into the media, they are a red flag, and you should run a mile.
