Jim Brady on the Changes in News Consumption
Ten years ago the Internet was in its infancy and most people read newspaper and watched TV news. We were all accustomed to a 24-hour news cycle.
Newsrooms are still under financial pressure as they see their circulations dwindle and ad revenues go up in smoke. Who ever thought we’d see the end of the daytime soaps due to lack of sponsorship?
Jim Brady of the Washington Post says, “As journalists we can’t sit back and say this is how we’ve reported on the news for the last 50 years. The world is changing, how people consume media is changing – by the day. We’re fighting for the attention of every reader. It’s hard, but we have to figure it out and learn how to produce better journalism.”
While this is very tough for journalists, over 40% claim that their dependence on PR-content will increase as a consequence.
It is time for a new mindset in public relations: moving from print to video, stimulating stakeholders to produce authentic content and helping journalists to do their job in this tough environment.
As PR people a big part of our job is media relations and we need to understanding the current media landscape, how news is best presented, what journalists need and how best to work with them. If this is their future, it must also be ours.
Just as they need to learn to produce excellent digital content and use open, collaborative tools and methods, so must we.
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