Who Rules the News?
Social media integration changed not only “media relations”, but also the whole media landscape. Now live news and live streams are the content. Mainstream media doesn’t concentrate on small pieces of information. Usually it looks like a brief Twitter update. Mainstream media brings facts with stories built around them. Look at CNN, they are on the top of the news, but look at how they deliver it. The trending topic is still a gun control issue with guests and experts by mentioning different details related to one big problem. Another news example – Hugo Chavez’s death, again CNN built stories around with a professional journalistic approach – who he was, what his death means and how it will influence the world and political relationships with other countries. Journalistic approach shifted and mainstream media impacts on the society by pushing the same button again and again. Mainstream media is still important in the news industry, but its approach has changed in recent years.
The public has converted into bloggers distributing everyday updates. Big mainstream media channels don’t need to spend money on crew, transport, and equipment when news is not new anymore. It is already in the Internet. For example, the first place, where the news about Whitney Houston’s death appeared was Twitter.
Some may say that there is no difference between journalists and bloggers. I personally think there is. Stories by bloggers (who don’t belong to any media) might be overwhelming or too short. Information is often fragmented and not always objective. We often browse from one blog to another looking for the truth and pure facts to make our personal conclusions. Most bloggers are not educated about how to digest information and formulate a news story correctly. Bloggers cover news from their personal perspective (what they see now and here) without understanding a big picture of the story, unless they become experts covering the same topic again and again. Loved this post “How I Used Social Media to Become an “Accidental Arms Expert,” which is a great example of how a curiosity transforms into expertise.
On the other hand we have journalists, who are taught to be less personal, cover facts, see details, question the right people and ask the right questions. Reading a professional article we can see where professional writers give facts and where their own judgment is. You may say: “We want to read what people like us see.” As a news consumer, I want to make my personal judgment after reading a full story. Articles written by journalists are more analytical, supported by facts and professional reputation. There is an internal shift in the journalism – how to write and what to cover.
From a PR perspective, it’s not easy to work with bloggers either. Communication is uncontrollable. Very often it’s easier to communicate to customers directly without intermediaries. Does it mean that it’s time for PR professionals to change their profession?
May be, slightly. PR professionals must be flexible and embrace new rules of news delivery without compromising our standards. In our reality it takes more efforts to communicate our messages to the targeted public. It’s easy to lose a message among other news and use the wrong channel. It also means not only knowing what is there, but also having a clear understanding of where an audience consumes their news and references as a major source of reliable information.
