Purpose
Not all media outlets carry equal influence. The Wall Street Journal may matter to your stakeholder's board, but not to customers making purchasing decisions. Local business publications in key markets may matter to customers, but the CEO never sees them. This tool scores outlets to determine how heavily coverage should be weighted in MRS calculations.
The Key Insight: Media weighting should be stakeholder-specific. Henrik's Media Weighting Matrix looks different from the CFO's. The same outlet might be Tier 1 for investor relations but Tier 3 for employer brand. Build matrices for each persona.
How to Use This Tool
Step 1: List Key Outlets
Focus on 50-100 outlets that matter most for your stakeholder. Include:
- Tier 1 nationals (WSJ, Bloomberg, FT, NYT)
- Industry trades (American Banker, TechCrunch, etc.)
- Regional/local outlets in priority markets
- Analyst and research publications
- Key podcasts, newsletters, influential voices
Step 2: Score Each Outlet (1-5 scale)
- Reach (25% weight): Audience size and distribution. How many people does this outlet reach?
- Relevance (25% weight): Alignment to your stakeholder's business priorities. Does coverage here move the needle?
- Relationship (25% weight): Quality of existing media relationships. Can you influence coverage here?
- Executive Attention (25% weight): Do key stakeholders actually read this? Is it on the CEO's radar?
Step 3: Apply Tier Weighting to MRS
- Tier 1 (Avg ≥ 4.0) → 3x weight: Priority outlets. Coverage here is gold. Track every mention, prioritize proactive pitching.
- Tier 2 (Avg 2.5-3.9) → 2x weight: Important outlets. Good visibility, worth monitoring and selective engagement.
- Tier 3 (Avg < 2.5) → 1x weight: Awareness outlets. Track for volume/sentiment trends but don't overweight.
Step 4: Update Quarterly
Media influence changes. Review and update scores every 3 months to maintain accuracy.