Mainstream Media Relations: More Important Than Ever
I’ve been called to the mat in the past for overemphasizing the importance of Social Media to marketing programs. With this post, I’ll surely be accused of skewing too far in the other direction. (If I’m not making somebody upset, I’m not doing my job, eh?)
Tim Dyson, the mastermind behind the NextFifteen group, recently blogged about the influence of traditional media. Here’s a quick excerpt:
“Only 20 years ago the idea of seeing a news article and forwarding it to 100 people was at best a time consuming and expensive exercise. Today, anyone with Internet access can do it … Today an article is as good as the number of people that read it and then forward it, PLUS the number of people who then find it later when doing a search on Google, PLUS the number of people who find it because someone blogged about it, PLUS the number of people that found it because it was tweeted about (etc.)”
And before you bemoan “the death of newspapers,” consider this: while print circulation last year has cratered, the number of unique visitors to newspaper websites grew by 15.8% to 65 million in the past year. Though the news media still struggles to figure out how to make $$$ from journalism, the audience is present and accounted for.
Meanwhile, anecdotally, more and more top-tier journalists are getting their story ideas and follow-up concepts directly from users themselves. For good or ill, they are become far more synchronized to the zeitgeist via their participation in Social Media, which only makes their stories in “traditional” media more relevant to the masses.
Lastly, the wild & woolly nature of the Web has placed a premium on quality, unbiased editorial. While it’s true that the public’s faith in journalism is at an all-time low, it is also true that our culture rightfully continues to place more faith in storied institutions like the NY TIMES, BusinessWeek, FORTUNE, etc., than in the blogosphere’s pundits.
So: frictionless sharing across myriad consumers + increasing participation + increasing “share of eyeballs” + increasing need for quality editorial = don’t place all your bets on Twitter just yet, folks. Burnishing your credentials with the top reporters in the field will still immeasurably shape the success of your clients’ programs, not to mention your own career.
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Social Media Comments
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Good argument from @tdefren on why mainstream media PR may be more important than ever [link to post] -
RT @PRtini A rationale for why “mainstream PR” is more impt than ever. New blog post: [link to post] (via @TDefren) -
RT @PRtini: A rationale for why “mainstream PR” is more impt than ever. New blog post: [link to post] (via @TDefren) -
Well said! RT @ldelco Refreshing spin. (via @TDefren): A rationale for why “mainstream PR” is more impt than ever. [link to post] -
Refreshing spin. Thanks! RT @TDefren: A rationale for why “mainstream PR” is more impt than ever. New blog post: [link to post] -
A rationale for why “mainstream PR” is more impt than ever. New blog post: [link to post] (via @TDefren) -
it’s all about the right mix….RT @TDefren: A rationale for why “mainstream PR” is more impt than ever. New blog post: [link to post] -
RT @tweetmeme Mainstream Media Relations: More Important Than Ever [link to post] -
Why mainstream media relations is still important: [link to post] #bumppr -
RT @TDefren A rationale for why “mainstream PR” is more impt than ever. New blog post: [link to post]
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Interesting post, thanks! Don’t know if you caught Tom Davenport’s “Forwarding is the New Networking” post on Harvard Business Publishing blog, http://bit.ly/ZPvlQ? Some similar points, plus ties this idea of forwarding info to being a superior employee…
And, of course, one can argue that mainstream media is social media as well. All – or most – mainstream media outlets blog, tweet, Facebook, LinkIn, Digg, Stumble, etc. Most produce video, audio and use multimedia. Is there really any such thing as a media outlet not using the web?
And with more than two million readers aren’t new media outlets like TechCrunch now mainstream?
Considering an approximate 25% of the U.S. population lack home computers, let alone broadband internet access, social networking tools go so far. Print and radio and TV are still influential and effective to those–and other–markets.
Spot on, Todd.
What you describe is an environment ripe for creating an all new news organization (Like USA Today did…an instant national newspaper using the new then satellite technology). Consider: free distribution (no trucks), world-wide audience, zero incremental cost per reader (no paper or ink costs), the next generation of readers are dedicated to the medium (to hell with the old farts who still want stock prices in 5pt), extend your voice with hyper-distribution of stories, zero cost publishing of supporting volumes of feedback…creating community, end-user controlled customization of layout and content and proof that ads placed get read and reacted to…WOW, there must be a journalism pony in there somewhere! What’s missing? Credibility, editorial oversite and the guts to start a world-wide e-paper. While the papers are whining about Craigs list, they’ll also watch someone come in add wipeout the remaining franchise they have.
BUT the only newspaper in the top five news sites (in terms of traffic) recently was The New York Times (and it was #5). (And more and more journalists are also breaking out on their own – no longer tethered to newspapers online or offline.)
There is a reason that public relations programs across the nation are still teaching tried and true methods of media relations. The reason? They still work.
As a PR coordinator, I have had equal successes with both traditional newspapers and social media outlets. No PR person should put all their eggs in one basket. You shouldn’t make yourself choose traditional or social media. Those that are the most successful in this industry are going to be those who can use both forms of media, communicate with journalists, and conduct good old fashioned media relations.
Tessa Carroll
VBP OutSourcing
Spot on! Traditional media is supported by social media to get the stories out however the journalists still exist to produce the content. Newspapers are not dead and just yet. As more and more people find social media and also the numerous places to receive the information, this many times leads to information overload bring them back to the tried and true newspapers.
Great post!
I completely agree. The mainstream media is losing advertisers, not viewers/readers/listeners. If anything, it is gaining influence, it just can’t translate it into dollars. (I recently wrote a related post on why PR still matters in the age of social media.)
With all the traditional media approaching online business iti is imposible to tell what is “mainstream” anymore.
Moreover, a lot of journalists are also bloggers (in Romania). It is imposible to place a border now between diferent types of media.