The Debate Continues: New Media is a Threat to Traditional Media

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Katy McDougal (Spokesperson) KPRM Associate Director Black Lion House 45 Whitechapel Road London E1 1DU United Kingdom‎ 0207.443.5592 (office) 0207.443.7668 (fax) 0207.589.8373 (cell) katy.mcdougal (im) Email: katy.mcdougal@kprm.co.uk Web site: http://www.kprm.co.uk Blog: http://katymcdougal.wordpress.com/

The Debate Continues: New Media is a Threat to Traditional Media

Katy McDougal shares her PR expertise and experience with a slidecast that continues the debate about the impact of new media.

London, UK – 1 March 2009

• KPRM released slidecast as a follow-up to the Public Relations Consultants Association’s (PRCA) conference on ”The State of Traditional Media.”
• New media currently poses a threat to Traditional Media.
• New media content is available quicker and to a more global audience.
• Content consumption data increases targeting and measurement opportunities in new media.
• Cost to produce new media is lower.
• New media must overcome poor advertising revenue models, limited penetration in homes, and questions of journalistic credibility. 

 

 

MULTIMEDIA ELEMENTS:

Download New Media Slidecast

QUOTES

“We’re making great strides and progress in the PR industry.  It feels good to see more professionals being open minded about the changes and participating in Social Media.”  – Deirdre Breakenridge, author of PR 2.0

“Every communications professional should pay close attention to this debate.  Acknowledging the underlying significance of new media and the impact it will have on our profession is critical as our industry continues to incorporate these new and powerful tools.”  – Kevin Howard, President, CIPR  

“This examination of both the strengths and shortcomings of new media tools reminds us that we are still very much on the forefront of these newer technologies.  As the media continues to evolve, so must the communications profession adapt. ”  – Michael Klein, Executive Editor, Media Guardian

ABOUT KPRM

KPRM is a London-based communications agency specialising in consumer public relations and branding.  Founded in 2002, this young and energetic agency offers a variety of services to best establish and maintain brand positioning for long term success.   

For further information about KPRM, please see our website: www.kprm.co.uk

 

RELATED LINKS

PR Week UK Technology News
RSS feed containing the latest new media and technology news updates

New Media Age Newsfeed
RSS feed containing the latest news in new media, advertising, internet, marketing, mobile and interactive televison

Media Guardian Newsfeed
RSS feed containing the latest news from the Guardian’s media section

Technorati Tags: New Media | Traditional Media | Public Relations | Twitter | Blogs | Social Networking | Slidecast | Social Media

New Media Slidecast

The following slidecast (an audio podcast combined with a slideshow presentation) examines the threat that new media poses to traditional media:

New Media Slidecast 

View more presentations from katy.mcdougal. (tags: social-networking blogs)

In related news, there is further evidence to suggest that newspapers are struggling to stay profitable.  The New York Times began to sell front page display advertising space in early 2009 for the first time in the paper’s history.   The last major US newspaper to refrain from front page ads now is the Washington Post.  The Business Insider suggests that the Post hasn’t had to sell this ad space yet because they are owned by a healthy education company rather than a struggling media company.

This CBS advert is the first front page ad that the New York Times has ever run.

You call that news?

One of the interesting impacts that the web 2.0 revolution has had is the shift in who decides what’s newsworthy. A couple of things have led to this change in the flow of communication, and I’ll start with blogs. The idea here is that each individual blogger gets to decide what’s worth writing about based on their own opinions and interests. This means that stories that might not have had a place in traditional media might still be of interest to a blogger and gain coverage nonetheless.

For consumer brands, the conversation has already extended into blogs, so it would definitely be wise to monitor what’s being said from a PR perspective. One example mentioned in Deirdre Breakenridge’s PR 2.0, which I reviewed in my first post, is Starbucks. If someone posts on their blog how they had to wait 20 minutes to be served one day at a particular location, you might just conclude that it’s a one-off experience and thus not worth looking into. However, if when monitoring the blogosphere you discover that a large number of people have complained recently about a long waiting time at Starbucks, it could be a reflection of a larger operations issue that the company should be made aware of.

Speaking of service at Starbucks, this is a pretty funny, loosely related video. Just for fun!

For non-consumer PR, a blog can be a great place to establish or reinforce a brand’s position. As mentioned in a previously posted Q&A, blogs can serve as the company’s authoritative voice, so what’s written on a blog by a company can potentially be quite influential. For example, if an architecture firm wanted to position itself as an industry leader in sustainable design, they could have one of their executives who is particularly experienced or qualified in that area start a blog. The whole focus of the blog would of course be sustainable design and by having the executive express his or her own viewpoints and convey their knowledge on the subject, it would contribute to the firm’s credibility in the area as well.

Another site that challenges what we define as news is Digg. Content is submitted by users – including news, videos and images – and users who read it either Digg it or Bury it. Content is ranked based on overall popularity so the collective community decides what is newsworthy and not editors.

Finally, I’d like to look at iReport. This topic was again mentioned in the previous Q&A, and many networks have done something similar but this is CNN’s version. Citizen journalists are encouraged to send in their own stories or they can choose an assigned topic from a list that CNN provides. Not only are stories featured on the website, but they have the potential to be featured on CNN’s national broadcast, which motivates people to participate.

All of these new media sites challenge the traditional channels of communication between PRs, the media and the public. The interesting thing to see will be how both industries continue to adapt and incorporate new media and change the way they interact with each other – only time will tell!