What PR Teams Get Wrong About AI Media Monitoring

An endless deluge of press releases, social DMs and LinkedIn nudges. Pitch overload is real—and journalists are over it. Half receive over 50 PR pitches a week, yet 75% say fewer than a quarter are relevant to their beat.

AI-powered media monitoring has only worsened things, triggering outreach based on keywords, not context.

Gini Dietrich, creator of the PESO Model and founder of Spin Sucks, has a simple message for communications professionals: Pitch like a human—or expect to be treated like a spammer.

As host of the popular Spin Sucks podcast, Gini has been on the receiving end of a steady stream of automated pitches suggesting guests for her show… that doesn’t feature guests.

“Too many PR teams are trapped in a cycle of reactive outreach, blasting pitches the moment an algorithm suggests relevance, without considering the journalist’s actual needs.”

It’s no surprise, then, that the top reason journalists block certain PR professionals is because they’ve bombarded them with irrelevant pitches.

Media Monitoring Tools: Building or Burning Bridges?

AI-powered media monitoring dashboards can flag news coverage in real-time, score sentiment with a click, and even alert PR teams when a journalist writes something “negative.”

But while the tech in monitoring solutions has evolved, it’s often misused—treated as a surveillance system for automated outreach instead of a resource to support journalists in building valuable relationships.

“When we reduce journalists to numbers and engagement metrics, we forget that relationships are built on mutual respect and genuine value exchange,” says Dietrich.

Journalists Are Watching You Watch Them

In the age of digital PR, most journalists expect to be monitored. That’s not new. What’s changed is the speed, scale, and sensitivity of today’s AI-powered media monitoring platforms.

Tools like Cision and Meltwater can scan huge volumes of content in real-time media monitoring, flagging tone, highlighting words like “crisis” or “controversy,” and alerting PR teams instantly.

But journalists aren’t passive subjects and are increasingly wary of pitches based on automated sentiment scoring. Why? Because AI still doesn’t understand nuance well. AI can misinterpret online mentions that contain fair criticism, satire, or subtle shifts in tone as “negative,” triggering reactive outreach that feels tone-deaf or often downright intrusive.

“Behind every data point is a person with preferences, interests, and a unique perspective that no sentiment score can fully capture,” says Dietrich.

When PR practitioners rely on flawed sentiment scores and respond without reading the full story or understanding the intent, it’s not just ineffective. It’s damaging.

With AI, Less Is More

We all get the appeal of AI. It saves time, processes data faster than any human could, and surfaces industry trends in seconds. But using it to “personalize at scale” isn’t the same as doing the actual work of a public relations professional.

According to Dietrich, the best teams use AI to inform—not replace—human judgment. “We should use AI to generate insights, not do the heavy lifting,” she says. “This means validating data, personalizing our approach, and respecting journalists' boundaries in an age of information overload.”

The PR teams that will thrive in 2025 and beyond aren’t the ones with the flashiest dashboards—they’re the ones who use technology to foster empathetic, less frequent, and higher-quality interactions.

Here at PR.co, we believe responsible AI usage starts with empathy. This means understanding the journalist’s world, not just your own, before using a media monitoring or sentiment analysis tool. The goal isn’t to monitor more. It’s to listen better.

Smarter Ways To Use AI in Public Relations

If used correctly, AI-driven media monitoring can be powerful. But these tools should be used for social listening—not stalking.

Here’s how to get this balance right:

• Use AI as a research assistant, not a relationship builder. Let it help you understand journalist beats, past stories, and preferences, then craft the pitch yourself with context and care. AI can save you hours of research, but your human touch is what makes the message meaningful.
• Track trends, not people. AI can reveal emerging themes and industry trends -- even spot potential crises before they happen. But don’t just email someone because they were flagged in your feed—context and relevance matter.
• Read before you react. Don’t rely on sentiment scores alone. AI can miss subtleties that only a human can catch.
• Pitch with purpose. Only reach out when you have something genuinely relevant or valuable to share. 
• Build profiles, not contact lists. Understand the journalist’s style, interests, and the kinds of stories they write before reaching out. Use AI to gather background but personalize every interaction.
• Play the long game. Relationships take time. No algorithm can shortcut trust.
• Know when to walk away. One follow-up is enough—persistence shouldn’t feel like spam. Let AI set reminders, but don’t let it push you into over-contacting someone.
  

Ditch the spray and pray trap

Behind every byline is a human—not a sentiment score. And in an age of inbox deluge, authenticity is what cuts through. AI in PR can help you move faster, but real relationships ultimately move the needle. 

PR.co combines smart AI with thoughtful design to help your team build trust at scale—without firing off the same pitch to 100 inboxes.

Our built-in AI features take care of time-consuming tasks like writing headlines, meta descriptions, emails, and social media posts so you can focus on what really matters: Building genuine relationships with the journalists who matter most.

With branded newsrooms journalists actually want to visit and clean, context-rich press releases that respect their time, the PR.co platform is built for thoughtful communicators—not bots.

Ready to pitch less and connect more?

The future of PR isn’t mass automation—it’s smarter, more empathetic communication, which, of course, also means AI is here to enhance, not replace, the valuable work of skilled PR professionals.

Our tools (and our team) are built around the idea that media relationships are earned, not engineered. 

Get started with PR.co and build a digital newsroom that speaks with journalists, not at them.