By Emily Abreu
New city, new job – this summer brought a lot of news for me, and not just the kind you find on the front page of the Guardian!
While I’m no stranger to PR, having started out as a journalist in Guernsey before jumping ship to a PR apprenticeship, my perspective on the industry has shifted since joining Midnight.
After a spending time in London where I gained some comms experience in-house, the sea breeze beckoned me back to the coast and I found myself in Brighton. The city has proved to be just as vibrant and exciting as I’d hoped, and landing a role at Midnight that reflected that same creative buzz was a perfect fit.
Six months in and I’ve grown in both ability and confidence. While adapting to the differences between PR in the UK and the Channel Islands has been a learning curve, it’s one I’m thoroughly enjoying.
Discovering more media relations
It’s fair to say the UK media landscape is a drastic change from that of the Channel Islands, and I quickly found myself enjoying the process of getting to grips with a much broader mix of outlets, from well-known national and business publications to a whole suite of trade media I never knew existed.
Discovering new titles to help clients reach fresh audiences continues to keep pitching exciting, and I’ve learnt niche trade media titles often deliver meaningful results to strategic audiences.
For example, one of our legal clients received new business calls directly off the back of some comments I’d pitched out to food and bakery trade media – a great example of how targeted media relations can deliver tangible results.
Newsjacking – the morning ritual
Fast-paced and rewarding, newsjacking is also a highlight for me – there’s nothing like the thrill of the news chase to kick-start the morning!
I soon discovered what our team refer to as ‘PR Glow’, the buzz you get when you land some seriously impressive coverage for a client. Whether it’s a national hit or securing a spot in a client’s favourite title, the feeling never gets old.
Newsjacking involves strategic pitching and often leaves you spinning multiple plates at once, and the whirlwind of Budget Day was a perfect example of this in action. Our team’s hard work resulted in securing 15 items of coverage for BCIS from a single set of comments – a definite PR Glow moment!
Celebrating coverage wins together as a team, and then sharing that success with clients, makes the process even more rewarding.
Midnight’s community
One of the many benefits of working in Brighton – lunchtime sea swims aside – is being surrounded by a strong business community. Attending Brighton SEO (my first conference!) made me feel part of something bigger.
From ‘newshacking’ to GEO, I came away with plenty of ideas to share with the team. The key takeaway for me was that more than half the internet is now AI-generated, so the human experiences that make us stand out should be used in what we write.
Another memorable day out was Boundless’ all-agency day. It was really energising for the wider team to come together and align around a shared goal. Connecting with other B Corp businesses, and others interested in becoming certified, at B Local Brighton was equally inspiring. And the unexpected belly dancing lesson at the networking event that followed was… definitely one to tick off the bucket list?
Getting my teeth into digital PR
What do good results look like? Learning about high domain authority websites and their impact on AI search has developed the way I think about measuring PR results.
One of my proudest moments has been helping FareShare Sussex & Surrey smash their £50,000 Big Give target by securing coverage on BBC News Online. Following regional radio and broadcast coverage, landing them on a top domain authority website was the icing on the cake. Volunteering with the FareShare team this Christmas was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, and to see first-hand the amazing work they do.
Credibility is key, and I’ve loved helping to build clients’ spokespeople into trusted experts in the media. It’s always really rewarding when journalists proactively approach us asking for our clients to comment on a story, and is testament to the importance of media relations. This is particularly true at a time when journalists’ inboxes are flooded with AI-generated pitches and even ‘expert’ commentary from people who don’t actually exist.
A useful tip I learnt at a Roxhill Meets… Lucy Warwick-Ching event was to ‘SEO’ emails and subject lines so journalists can easily find them in their inbox. Picking up the good old telephone to follow up on pitches has also proved very successful for me.
Closing wins
Over the past six months, the team at Midnight has helped me develop a broad range of PR skills – crafting pitch emails that land, regionalising press releases, exploring forward features and confidently posting on my personal LinkedIn are just a few. Surrounded by such supportive and experienced colleagues, I’m constantly learning and truly feel part of the team.
I also kicked off the year by complementing my PR experience with a formal qualification, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Foundation Award. I’m really looking forward to seeing where 2026 takes me next!
Want to find out more about what it’s like to work at Midnight? Click here for a day in the life at Midnight.
