Earned Media & Media Relations
The Herald Group is a full-service public affairs firm that builds and executes programs that secure favorable coverage In the outlets that shape opinion and move policy at the federal, state, and local levels.
THE PROBLEM
Earned media coverage is generated through reporter relationships and strategic pitching, not paid placement.
Earned media is generated through trusted reporter relationships, well-timed narratives, and a proactive pitching strategy that gives journalists something worth covering. Organizations without those relationships—or without the strategic infrastructure to deploy them—don't get the coverage they need at the moments that matter most.
The difference between earned media that moves a policy outcome and coverage that doesn't isn't the story. It's who is telling it, where it publishes, and whether it reaches the policymakers, regulators, and stakeholders whose opinions actually determine results. THG builds the relationships, the strategy, and the infrastructure that makes that happen across DC-area, national, and targeted state and local media.
The most credible thing about your organization won't come from you.
Ashley Pratte Oates
Senior Vice President at The Herald Group
WHAT WE DO
Innovative Strategies + Extensive Capabilities
THG provides earned media and media relations services for public affairs campaigns, including media strategy, reporter engagement, op-ed placement, rapid response, spokesperson training, and media monitoring.
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Earned Media Strategy & Editorial Planning
A story without a strategy behind it is just noise in a crowded news cycle.
THG builds earned media strategies for public affairs campaigns: identifying target outlets and reporters, building editorial calendars, and timing pitches around legislative and regulatory milestones.
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Media Relations & Reporter Engagement
Effective earned media begins with established reporter relationships
THG maintains direct relationships with veteran beltway reporters, national outlets, and targeted state and local media across every relevant policy beat—including politics, energy, technology, finance, healthcare, infrastructure, and financial services.
We conduct proactive outreach, schedule key conversations, share background information, and cultivate the journalist relationships that generate favorable coverage when campaigns need it most.
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Proactive Pitching & News Hook Development
The most effective earned media programs in public affairs don't react to the news.
THG identifies timely news hooks, develops compelling narratives, and pitches stories directly to targeted reporters in ways tailored to what each outlet and journalist covers. Every pitch is designed to advance the campaign narrative while giving journalists a story worth telling.
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Op-eds, Commentaries & Letters to the Editor
Opinion pieces placed under the names of credible allies.
THG develops, places, and amplifies op-eds, commentaries, and letters to the editor in national, Beltway, and targeted state publications. The library of content from a wide variety of voices that establishes a steady drumbeat of narrative support across the campaign timeline.
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Rapid Response & Narrative Management
Moving quickly to shape the stories before they run.
THG develops issue monitoring and rapid response strategies that identify emerging threats, prepare spokespeople, and push back on unfavorable narratives through off-the-record briefings, background conversations, and targeted reactive outreach to the reporters most likely to be receptive.
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Spokesperson Preparation & Media Training
Earned media is only as strong as the spokespeople delivering it.
THG prepares executives and organizational leaders for every media engagement by developing tailored talking points, conducting media training, building Q&A banks, and providing reporter-specific background so every interview advances the narrative rather than complicates it.
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Surround-Sound Earned Media Amplification
Working to create an echo chamber of your messages.
THG builds a surround-sound effect by coordinating earned media with social media, digital amplification, and third-party ally channels to extend the reach of every placement and build an echo chamber of campaign messages around the reporters and audiences that shape opinion.
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Media Monitoring & Coverage Reporting
Making sure no headline goes unnoticed.
THG provides regular earned media coverage reports and tracks placements, monitors narrative trends, and reports in real time on what reporters, competitors, and opponents are saying about the issue.
This intelligence informs ongoing strategy, rapid response decisions, and campaign optimization across the full program.
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Breaking into New Media
The media landscape is no longer just journalists and newspapers.
THG identifies and builds relationships within the new media ecosystem. These include independent newsletters, podcasts, YouTube channels, and content creators that now shape public opinion alongside traditional outlets.
This new media approach ensures campaigns reach audiences wherever they're actually paying attention, not just where coverage has traditionally run.
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Local & Community Media
Local newspapers are disappearing — but local audiences haven't gone anywhere.
THG helps clients reach local audiences through the platforms that have replaced traditional local news like community Facebook groups, Reddit feeds, and hyperlocal news sites.
THG pinpoints the specific local and community platforms relevant to each campaign, engages local influencers and community voices, and builds outreach strategies that reach residents at the town, county, and state level—including in districts where traditional local coverage no longer exists.
Designed to Fit Your Needs
THG generates coverage that reaches the right audiences at the moments decisions are being made.
Earned media programs in public affairs are most effective when they combine established reporter relationships, proactive narrative development, and a coordinated amplification strategy.
Establish Narrative Support
THG builds editorial calendars and proactive pitching programs that maintain consistent narrative presence in the outlets.
Place Coverage That Reaches
THG targets the Beltway publications, national business press, and state and local outlets that policymakers, regulators, and key stakeholders read.
Build Reporter Relationships
THG cultivates and maintains journalist relationships continuously. This helps ensure that when a story needs to be placed, the relationship is already there.
Shape Stories Early
Background conversations, off-the-record briefings, and proactive narrative framing that shape the story on favorable terms before it runs.
Amplify Every Placement
THG extends every placement across third-party ally channels, social media, and digital platforms.
Our Team
Meet the team behind THG's earned media and public affairs media relations practice. Our communications professionals have established relationships across Beltway, national, and state media, and the strategic experience to build programs that generate coverage that moves policy outcomes.
Marc Brumer
Partner
Marc specializes in earned media strategy for high-stakes legislative fights, honed as chief messaging strategist and spokesman for U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, managing national and beltway press relationships
Ashley Pratte Oates
Senior Vice President
Ashley specializes in crisis communications and traditional media strategy, with frequent appearances on MSNBC, Fox News, and CBS News, and bylines in The Washington Times, U.S. News, and The Hill.
Sallie Sorenson
Account Manager
Sallie specializes in media relations and content development, building the press strategy, conducting the research, and driving the pitching that help clients secure coverage and navigate public affairs campaigns across a range of policy areas.
Meet Entire THG Team
Meet our entire team of political campaign mentalities, MBA acumen, and more.
