In 2022, the News continues to be one of the most dominant forms of media consumers are exposed to each day, and this trend will continue for some time with the ongoing cost of living crisis, Ukraine War and Partygate scandal just a few stories on the public’s radar.

The need for trusted sources of information to provide commentary on these events, and to assure, advise and inform people on how it affects them and what they can do to help themselves or others, is vitally important, particularly in a time of ongoing disinformation and fake news.

There was a time when staff in newsrooms would describe July as “silly season” due to the lack of serious stories around. Not so in 2022.

Over the past month, PA’s team of journalists, photographers, video reporters and editors have been as busy as ever, thanks to a series of major events including Boris Johnson’s resignation, the impending race for our next Prime Minister and a sweltering few days that led to the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK.

Our words, photos and videos have been a critical component of the media’s coverage of those events, and we have seen a big surge in journalists turning to our Explore platform to find them all in one place.

There have been 34,000 searches from journalists in July so far – here’s a little look at what they’ve been looking for. As you can see, two stories very clearly stand out.

Drama in Westminster led to a record-breaking week on PA Media’s Explore platform as journalists sought out the very latest updates and multimedia coverage.

In a few days where everyone’s eyes were on Westminster, journalists from the UK’s top websites, newspapers and broadcasters flocked to PA Media’s Explore platform to ensure they were on top of the very latest updates and multimedia content the moment we published them.