Working in the public relations and marketing fields for pretty much my whole career, I’ve observed a major shift from traditional ways of promoting a company, brand, person or service through mailed press kit packages, faxed press releases and b-roll tapes to multimedia links, Twitter, blogger lounges and Facebook.
A point of contention is that new media is losing credibility, value and the due-diligence nature that traditional dailies hold in high regard and reporters with high standards. That is not to say that bloggers aren’t as good as traditional reporters (I’m a “blogger,” so that means I would be self-depricating at this point); what it means is that there is a disruption in the system and some think that the middle man - i.e. PR and marketing folks are no longer needed. Are traditional PR and marketing professionals going to have to become social media experts? Is social media killing PR or is it just enhancing it?
Because this is such a hot button topic, Girls in Tech and The Horn Group are producing a lively debate on the future of the media ecosystem - Jason Calacanis thinks you should fire your PR agency. Robert Scoble thinks you should ignore it. Michael Arrington says PR as its practiced today is “broken.” Jeremiah Owyang sees value in PR, in some surprising places, while Steve Rubel wonders if the thrill of discovery has made PR as we know it obsolete.
But one thing is completely clear. As the media industry becomes increasingly more social, so does the ecosystem around it, which means, everyone—from editors to CMOs to PR professionals—is a connector, a hub and a source.
So if everybody’s a communicator, what is the value of PR? No question that it’s changing, but helping our clients connect with influencers is only a piece of what we do. Much of the value we offer to clients is the thinking and strategy we provide, which media benefit from but may never see directly. And that never goes out of style.
Please join us as we invite journalists, analysts, bloggers, PR folks and various combinations thereof to have a drink and a bite as we discuss the new media ecosystem.
The date, time and panelists for this event is still being determined, but it will definitely happen on either the first or second week of November. We’ll keep you updated and we really hope that you’ll be able to make it.
