New, old media and PR

Is new media taking over traditional media? I was scanning through articles on the Internet about how new media is evolving and came across an interesting blog by Brian Solis ,Principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning PR and New Media agency in Silicon Valley.

In one of his posts, he explains why PR is not an afterthought and why new media is becoming essential in today's business. He noted that: "In order to be successful in Public Relations, you need to grasp what it is, what it isn’t, and how it works and why. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to build the right team, determine the best strategies to amplify visibility and gain traction, or have the ability to effectively measure it."

The public relations profession is also evolving and as part of communications, one needs to be up to date with the new technology in order to reach the targeted audience or achieve their mission. As a PR professional/practitioner, you to be aware that traditional media seems to be loosing audience to new media. There is the challenge of timeliness, whereas people want to read first hand information.

The new media is changing the way Journalists disseminate their information to the public and as long as this affects them, it does affect public relations as well. During our Corporate Communications class last week, a guest speaker Euan Semple gave an inspirational presentation on new media and how businesses are embracing themselves with new technology.

However, it's worth noting that at times credibility is an issue. Some people tend to trust traditional media, or word of mouth. The risk is that any one can comment or give their opinion online which may include some negative opinions. But then again, one cannot do without new media. I found this video useful and thought I should share it. It's about what is PR 2.0/Social Media and how can it benefit your business?