Media relations: how to assess an agency beyond its contact list

Start with information worth examining

Identify what the company can substantiate: new data, expertise, a decision or documented experience. A busy press-release calendar does not automatically generate editorial interest. Ask the agency to explain why a story matters, to whom and at what point it becomes ready to share.

For a company entering France, test the difference between a headquarters announcement and a relevant French story. Local consequences, available experts and evidence may change the angle. The agency should distinguish business, trade, regional and broadcast media rather than translate a single pitch for everybody.

Give finalists a bounded, comparable exercise

A limited shared exercise is more appropriate than an unpaid complete campaign. Meet the delivery team and ask how it prepares spokespeople, tracks requests and corrects factual errors. Daily operating discipline matters as much as the pitch.

Specify the outputs and approvals

Distinguish editorial advice, writing, interview preparation, coordination and evaluation. Define review rounds, expected response times and access to internal experts. An agency cannot independently validate a fact the organisation has not made available.

An evidence pack can include dated figures, sources, limitations and answers to sensitive questions. Agree rules for AI use, particularly confidentiality, human verification and quotations. The version sent to a journalist must be checked; confident wording is not a substitute for verification.

Measure quality without confusing reach and impact

Examine outlet relevance, factual accuracy, useful messages and the questions coverage raises. Separate agency outputs, published coverage and effects actually observed. AMEC’s Barcelona Principles offer a measurement reference; the account dashboard still needs objectives specific to the assignment.

Consider a fictional health-sector company with a few precise articles reaching the relevant professional audience, compared with many superficial reproductions elsewhere. Volume alone cannot determine which programme performed better. Review the original objective and the limits of the available audience evidence.

Recognise credible commitments

An agency cannot control an independent newsroom. Distinguish earned coverage from paid placements or commercial partnerships and identify them accurately. Ask what happens when a journalist declines the story, investigates criticism or does not use the proposed framing.

For the first meeting, prepare recent coverage, available spokespeople, publishable evidence and sensitive issues. Clarify urgent-request procedures. At the first review, the agency should explain what has been understood, corrected or learned and how that changes the next phase of work.