Earned Media Meets AI: Key Takeaways for PR from NPC Malaysia x WE Communications
KUALA LUMPUR - The National Press Club of Malaysia and WE Communications hosted a focused session on how AI is changing earned media. Held at the National Press Club Malaysia Clubhouse, the event spotlighted WE's Future of Communications 2026 Report, presented by International Head of Integrated Marketing Nichole Provatas and International Head of Insights and Analytics Brian Keenan.
For PR and communications teams, the message was clear: AI is now part of how stories are found, framed, and featured. From zero-click experiences to LLM-driven discovery, your content strategy needs to assume the reader might never visit your site-yet still encounter your story.
What the event covered
- Zero-click searches and how stories surface without a traditional click.
- How large language models (LLMs) pull, summarise, and rank information.
- Shifts in news consumption and the rising influence of creators.
- Practical approaches to AI adoption inside comms and newsroom workflows.
- Skills and measurement updates for an AI-driven media ecosystem.
- How to make stories more indexable and discoverable by LLMs.
Why this matters for PR and communications
Audiences expect more content, faster, and matched to the platforms they use. As Provatas noted, newsrooms can use AI to produce across formats at greater speed-especially helpful for lean teams.
Her point was practical: simplify production with AI to scale responsibly. Translation, rapid video edits, and structured summaries are near-term wins that expand output without burning out teams.
Five moves to put in play this quarter
- Ship LLM-ready story packages: Include a tight summary (50-80 words), a bulleted fact box, 3-5 key quotes, and a short FAQ. Publish transcripts for video/audio.
- Use structured data: Apply schema where relevant (Article, NewsArticle, Organization, Person). It helps machines parse your story elements. See Google's guidance on structured data: Search Central.
- Optimize for zero-click moments: Write clear, direct answers to the core question in the first paragraph. Keep headlines literal and descriptive. Add a one-sentence "What's new" kicker.
- Package assets for reuse: Provide press-ready images, short video cuts, captions, and social-safe snippets. Make it easy to quote, clip, and embed.
- Codify AI in your workflow: Use AI for ideation, summaries, translation, and first-pass edits-then apply human judgment. Set review standards for accuracy, sourcing, and tone.
Make your stories indexable by LLMs
- Be explicit: State who, what, where, when, why in the first 100-150 words.
- Name entities consistently: Company, product, spokesperson, location-use the same naming every time.
- Cite sources: Link to data, filings, and primary research. LLMs favor verifiable facts.
- Clarify ownership and expertise: Include spokesperson bios and context for authority.
- Reduce ambiguity: Avoid jargon and abstract claims; quantify where possible.
Measurement updates for an AI-driven newsfeed
- Track beyond clicks: Monitor brand mentions across summaries, news briefs, and creator content.
- Annotate story elements: Log which facts, quotes, and data points get picked up. Replicate what travels.
- Channel mix: Balance earned, creator partnerships, newsletters, and short-form video to seed signals in multiple surfaces.
- Quality signals: Prioritise source transparency, clear authorship, and accessible proof points.
What Provatas highlighted for newsrooms and comms teams
- Use AI to simplify production for small teams.
- Scale output across formats without sacrificing accuracy.
- Create multilingual content to reach new audiences.
- Produce faster video cuts and edits to keep pace with platform demand.
Context you can use
- News habits keep shifting toward platforms and summaries. For macro trends, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report is a reliable pulse check.
- If you're building team capability around AI tools and workflows, see role-based learning paths here: Complete AI Training - Courses by Job.
Bottom line for PR
Assume your audience meets your story through a summary first. Package facts cleanly, support them with credible sources, and make reuse painless. Use AI to move faster where it's safe-and rely on human editors where judgment matters most.
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