It had already been a nine-hour day in the newsroom. I’d wrapped up two lead municipal stories – with comment from the City Manager and independent voices to strengthen the stories. My inbox still held five flagged emails that I’d get to when I get to, and another four PR pitches I knew I wasn’t…

For years, the value of earned media was relatively easy to explain. A story in a respected publication put a brand in front of an audience it could not necessarily reach through its own channels. It gave the brand credibility. It created awareness. It generated backlinks, website traffic and, ideally, business. Then SEO search came…