For years, startup founders—including life sciences and deep tech—have treated top-tier media coverage as the pinnacle of PR. An article in The Wall Street Journal or a feature in The New York Times felt like an arrival. Even Bloomberg, Business Insider, and TechCrunch carried a lot of cachet.

That era is over.

In the U.S., daily print newspaper circulation has plummeted 80% over the past 20 years. Digital traffic for many legacy publications is stagnating or declining. Google has begun de-emphasizing traditional news sources—if a visitor even makes it past their AI summaries.

The media landscape has splintered into a thousand newsletters, podcasts, and social media communities. I’m not saying it’s good, but it is a reality that’s been taking shape for years: Influence is shifting from institutions to individuals, from nameplate to niche.

If the media world is a pyramid, it’s time to focus on the lowest, widest parts.

As anyone who has attended one of my webinars knows, I’ve been advocating for a microtargeting strategy for many years and for many reasons: Tier 1 (and many lower-grade publications) offer very unfocused audiences; they require too much effort; there’s a high likelihood that the article will take an undesirable angle or end up mentioning you in paragraph 34.

And now even their reach is in question.

You’re left with the rationale that “Mom will be impressed.” Which is nice. But tell her to hold her applause for the dollar amount of your exit.

Industry-specific publications have long held certain advantages over general interest publications. But niche news outlets are exploding in quantity and time, and marquee publications keep shriveling.

Making a conscious shift to microtargeted PR represents a huge opportunity for your startup—if you embrace the bizarre media bazaar that now envelops us.

Here are the pillars of your updated PR strategy:

1. Niche is nifty

Publications like Precision Farming Dealer, AI in Biopharma, Fintech Magazine, and Quantum Computing Report may not be household names—but they’re the sort of reading that’s essential for your audience these days. And then there are the ocean of blogs, newsletters, and podcasts, whose credibility often relies on an industry expert. Getting published in any of those reaches the exact people who influence purchasing, partnerships, and funding. Even better, coverage in those types of outlets is much easier—more often than not, they’re run remotely by a small handful of people. Their job is to deliver specific news to specific audiences. As long as you’re a fit, you’re in.

2. Elevate your internal technical voices

Your lead scientist’s voice may be more powerful than your CEO’s. Subject-matter authority builds credibility in ways branding never could. Help your technical team become visible in niche webinars, Slack groups, and contributor posts.

3. Conflict beats committee

I’m torn about this one, and plan to make it the subject of a future post. But the fact is that the social media algorithms love conflict. Take an outrageous stand and watch the sparks (and engagement) fly. Us-vs-Them framing has consumed social media (and, to our national detriment, our politics). Some founders have a natural inclination towards this approach. I’m more pragmatic than pugilist, but even if it’s not your nature to go full Elon, prioritize personality over pablum. People want to follow people. And people have opinions.

4. Think format-first

A press release no longer moves the needle. You might still write one (there are good reasons), but think ants over elephant. Every announcement should be chopped and adapted for what works best across multiple formats: short-form LinkedIn posts, podcasts, editorials, technical deep dives.

5. Work backwards from impact

Track what matters: qualified investor intros, sales, partnership inquiries, potential hires. See which media triggered engagement and inbound leads and double down on those.

6. Never stop fine-tuning your sources

Ask everyone relevant about what they’re reading. Ask customers and partners how they found out about you. The landscape is constantly shifting.

The media industry atomization makes it both harder and easier for you to gain visibility. It’s easier to get into these niche publications, but harder because the landscape is more fluid, and potentially slower because each one reaches relatively few people. Prioritize time in your schedule or work with someone to get it done.

For life sciences, deep tech, and B2B startups, the future of communications is narrower, deeper, and far more impactful. All that’s left is to let go of the old dreams—and start building resonance where it actually counts.