Do you have to pay to get press coverage?

Press relations

Startups

Budget

Published on

9/11/26

Updated on

9/11/26

Short answer

No, editorial coverage cannot be bought: journalists choose their stories independently. What you can pay for is advertising space (sponsored content, advertorials, paid rankings), which must be labelled as such. A PR agency fee pays for the work of preparing and pitching the story, not for the article itself.

An article written by a journalist, an interview or a quote in the media cannot be bought. This is earned media: visibility you get because the newsroom finds the story worth covering. Paid formats do exist, though, and it helps to tell them apart.

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Earned media vs paid media

Earned media covers editorial coverage: news stories, profiles, accepted op-eds, podcast or radio appearances. The newsroom alone decides whether to publish, which angle to take and whom to quote. That independence is what makes it credible to readers.

Paid media covers what a brand buys: ads, advertorials, sponsored or partner content, placements in some paid rankings and directories. It may look like an article, but the space has been sold.

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What the rules say

In the UK, rule 2.1 of the CAP Code states that marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such. In the US, the FTC's Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements (December 2015) treats native ads that hide their commercial nature as deceptive. Sponsored content therefore carries a clear label.

On the newsroom side, the SPJ Code of Ethics asks journalists to distinguish news from advertising and to avoid hybrids that blur the line. An article paid for and presented as editorial falls outside that framework.

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So what do you pay a PR agency for?

An agency fee pays for work: finding the angle, preparing the press kit, targeting the right journalists, preparing the spokesperson and following up. It does not buy coverage. A credible agency will never guarantee a specific article in a specific outlet.

Across the five three-month PR case studies Linker has published, a campaign generated between 7 and 15 pieces of coverage, with a median of 10. That coverage was earned, not bought.

Paid media still has occasional uses, for example explaining a complex technology to a narrow audience. It complements PR rather than replacing it.

To go further, read our definitions of earned media, the coverage you do not pay for and of sponsored content and how it must be labelled.