Then vs. Now: Is Comms Growing Up, or Just Getting Louder?

There’s a tired trope in our industry that the “old guard” is stuck in 2012 pitching long-form print features, while the “new generation” is just firing off AI-generated press releases to TikTok influencers and hoping for a vibe shift.

But if you actually sit down and listen to the people doing the work, the reality is a lot more interesting.

Welcome to the first edition of Then vs. Now, a side-by-side hot take where we pit two different vantage points against each other to see where the industry is actually heading.

Today, we’re talking to Caroline Canny, Senior Director of Impact (representing the “navigating the new terrain” perspective), and Ilana Rubin Dvir, EVP & Head of Strategy (our resident “been around the block and has the receipts” expert).

We put them in an email thread, stripped away the polished corporate PR-speak, and asked them for their unfiltered takes on the myths, traps, and absolute nonsense dominating the comms world in 2026.

Let’s get into it.

1. The “Gatekeeper” Myth

We’ve gone from a world where a handful of legacy editors held all the power to an ecosystem dictated by Substackers, podcasters, and hyper-niche creators. Is “media relations” even the right name for what we do anymore?

• Caroline: “I think ‘Media Relations’ perfectly encapsulates the umbrella that’s constantly evolving. When I describe my job, I rarely say ‘publicist,’ but refer to myself as a media relations specialist because the role now encompasses so much more than traditional press outreach. We’re building relationships across an entirely different ecosystem, and the name still fits; it’s just that the definition of ‘media’ is constantly evolving.”
• Ilana: “I can see why people might think the term feels a bit old-school now. We’ve gone from a world where journalists held the power to sway influence to a landscape of creators who can make a product sell out with a single video. But even though ‘media’ isn’t just traditional newsrooms anymore, the core of our job hasn’t changed at all. In a world totally flooded with sponsored posts and paid ads, earned media is the one thing you can’t just buy your way into. So the name still works, because the definition of media just grew up.”

2. The Productivity Trap

Between generative AI, Slack, and a 24/7 news cycle, we have the tools to move faster than ever. But are we actually doing better work, or are we just making it easier to produce mindless noise?

• Caroline: “The constant news cycle definitely has pros and cons. On one hand, it’s a way to stay inspired and influenced by the sheer amount of ideas you see each day. On the other hand, this cycle can also cross the line into producing an excess of content just to keep up with the speed. It’s harder to really stand out among the noise, but that makes it all the more rewarding when you do. It’s also important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture: Does this really align with the brand and its values?”
• Ilana: “While we have tools at our fingertips that can basically do the baseline work for us, there’s a massive difference between just being speedy and doing great work. That difference lives in the time and energy put between the prompt and the final deliverable. Anyone can use AI to instantly generate content, but our value comes from taking that raw output and running it through our own lens of professional experience. If we use the time technology saves us to think deeper and refine the strategy, we aren’t just contributing to the noise, we’re actually elevating the quality.”

3. The “Seat at the Table”

Comms used to fight just to be heard by leadership. Now, we’re managing the CEO’s personal brand, handling internal cultural crises, and shaping corporate policy. Is having “the seat” everything we hoped it would be, or is it just higher stakes and a smaller margin for error?

• Caroline: “There’s definitely added pressure with less room for error, but having ‘the seat’ allows you to be proactive instead of reactive. We’re not just responding to crises or executing someone else’s vision; comms is shaping the narrative from the start. This is valuable, even if it comes with higher stakes.”
• Ilana: “The pressure is real, but that kind of access to leadership is truly worth the risk. Being right there with leadership makes us better storytellers because we actually get the CEO’s backstory, how they tick, and what keeps them up at night. That insider view unlocks a level of narrative building and true thought partnership you just can’t replicate from the outside. At the end of the day, the high stakes are a fair trade.”

4. The Hills to Die On

What is one standard industry “best practice” that you think is actually complete nonsense and needs to be retired immediately?

• Caroline on the Wire Default: “Press releases are a very important tool to have for aligning on messaging. However, it’s not always necessary to place them on the wire. While valuable for corporate announcements and major campaigns, they do not need to be a default for every piece of brand news. We need to be more intentional about when and how we use them.”
• Ilana on Vanity Metrics & 100+ Person Media Lists: “First is relying entirely on UVM and circulation numbers for reporting. It’s an obscure vanity metric that does nothing to prove our actual value; we need to look at real impact, like tracking brand sentiment or catching the attention of investors. Second is the massive, 100+ person media list. There is absolutely no world where 100 different journalists care about the exact same news. If we take the time to reverse-engineer a story for just three to five journalists who are a perfect fit, our response rates will skyrocket.”

The Spin’s Take

What’s fascinating here is that despite the difference in their day-to-day vantage points, Caroline and Ilana actually land in the exact same place on the fundamentals: Comms isn’t dying, it’s just getting sharper. Whether you’re dealing with a legacy editor or a Substack writer, the currency is still trust. Whether you’re using AI to draft a pitch or doing it manually, the value is still the human strategy behind it.

So here’s our takeaway: If you’re still blasting out 100-person media lists on the wire and bragging to your client about “circulation numbers,” you’re not old-school; you’re doing it wrong. The future of comms belongs to the people who use the speed of technology to buy themselves the time to think deeper, scale smaller, and actually advise the boardroom instead of just cleaning up after it.

See you in the next installment. Until then, we’ll be in the group chat deleting 95 people from our media lists.