Rome FM is a two-minute news broadcast fit for modern media

The newsroom is the heart of every PR agency. At The Romans (the only agency in the world to have been named Agency Of The Year annually since 2018), the newsroom is built on the same principles as its campaigns – by saying goodbye to boring PR.

Modern media is characterised by high speed and relentlessness with traditional news round-ups proving simply too slow to match. The Roman’s approach is its very own Rome FM – a daily, two-minute broadcast delivering the biggest headlines of the day, plus reactives that tap into culture, the latest journalist news, and the Romans' expert PR insights. It’s built to be quick and useful in a digestible format that people prefer to consume now.

Running Rome FM behind the scenes are senior account executives Kelly Yip Yau and Rupert Cole, and senior account manager Anna Berman. Together they curate the stories, shape the voice of the broadcast, and ensure Rome FM stays relentlessly current and useful to listeners. They’re also part of a new generation of Romans helping adapt the industry to suit media in the modern day, showing how agency newsrooms can evolve to match the speed of culture.

Curation First

Curation is at the heart of Rome FM and deciding which stories make it into the two-minute broadcast each day is a daily process of refinement. A sharp eye and good judgement are needed at all times. “We didn’t want Rome FM to just tell our listeners pure headlines – we wanted it to be about what’s hot, what’s not, what’s stopping people from scrolling past, and what’s making them share a story with friends,” Anna explains. “We report less about what the headline is, and more about what the discussion surrounding it is. We want people to use it as a cheat code to looking like they’ve got their finger on the cultural pulse down at the pub.”

For Rupert, it’s all about the critical lens: “What we use to screen our daily stories is whether a client could actually play a role in the story, and whether it’s still early enough to become a part of that conversation. Too often, by the time a story has hit traditional media, it’s already too late to jump on – we scan social media as well as traditional news to ensure it’s still being spoken about, and not died out just yet.”

Knowing their clients’ needs inside out informs the team’s decisions. “We sit down with the hosting team to go through the day’s agenda every day, ensuring we’re picking the stories that are genuinely in the cultural zeitgeist and putting ourselves in the shoes of a brand or PR executive that might be scanning for a reactive opportunity.”

A Friendly Tone

The tone of Rome FM feels more like hearing from a mate than a media briefing. That’s very much on purpose. Rupert reveals that “everyone is on the weekly rota for Rome FM, from assistant account executive to senior account manager, meaning each week’s broadcast brings a different energy and you hear a dynamic blend of voices and tones from across the agency.”

“That’s really how we developed our central Rome FM ‘hearing the news from a mate who knows all about it’ tone,” says Anna. “The vibe comes naturally as we literally throw a new bunch of Romans from different departments into a recording room, with no set script, and a simple brief to share ‘hot takes’ and chat around the story, not just about the story.” In essence it’s “just everyday conversations and culture that already exists in our office or down at the OAP, but de-sanitised, recorded and showcased for our clients too.”

Kelly notes how Rome FM adds to the agency’s internal and client culture. “People come to The Romans because they want to say goodbye to boring PR. If that’s our mission, it doesn’t make sense to make dry, formal downloads of irrelevant and out-of-touch news at 8am – our clients and fellow Romans want something brief, engaging, and a bit funny, so that’s what we encourage.”

Running a daily broadcast is fast-paced business and the team has learned a lot about what it means to react to news and trends in real time. “The simple concept of a ‘reactive’ is reacting to news and being a part of a conversation as it’s happening – teams who have outdated processes of reporting on the news are antithetical to this in every way. If you’re spending all morning writing up and amending news articles into a long email for your whole team, how are you going to keep up with the cycle and land a reactive story? Our round-up drops at 8am for a reason,” says Anna.

Authenticity needs to be considered, according to Kelly. “There’s a lot happening in the world right now and the cycle is over-run with massive developing stories, so brand stories and reactives need to feel authentic and genuine, not just shoehorned by marketers who have ‘guesstimated’ the upcoming agenda.”

Relevancy is the currency of attention and Rupert is clear that “you won’t keep up with culture by knowing EVERYTHING that is going on in the news, all the time,” he says. “You need to know what you’re looking for. That’s what Rome FM does, we filter for what is appropriate and relevant for brands and PRs to know, and deliver it with ideas, in time to roll out a reaction as the story lands.”

The team sees formats like Rome FM changing how PR agencies communicate, both internally and with clients, leading to an evolution of the agency newsroom. “Rome FM was formed over a pint and a vent about morning coverage monitoring processes, and positioned as the solution,” says Rupert. “The traditional model of round-ups – reading papers, writing summaries, big brainstorms to think up reactives, chasing approvals – isn’t able to keep up with how fast the news and culture can move, especially now all news is delivered instantly to our phones.”

“The next era of communicating across an agency or team, or with a client, needs to match the pace of modern-day news. Rome FM does that, while adding our ‘Romans’ flavour and expertise that our clients hired us for. It’s quick and simple!” Kelly adds.

What might be next on the horizon? “Who knows? A hologram newsreader every morning? An AI exec purely for Rome FM?” Anna ponders. “I’m sure all the publicists among us that were scouring Gorkana or frantically staving off paper cuts by leafing through the day’s papers at breakneck speed would never have dreamed of voice-noting their entire agency. Maybe we should get in touch with that Channel 4 AI presenter…stay tuned!”.

By Rupert Cole, Senior Account Executive.