Traditional news outlets are scrambling for survival–and losing the fight. This is sad for those of us who began our careers in newsrooms with upright typewriters and saw our stories literally hand set into metal type. However, the changing news environment is opening opportunities for PR practitioners, especially for those who are digitally savvy.
As PR professionals, we need to understand where people will get news and information, and then design innovative ways to get our clients’ messages to them. San Francisco Magazine cleverly cites 14 scenarios for the future of news from the California-based firm of creative thinkers called IDEO. The IDEO creative thinkers allow us to imagine the exciting opportunities ahead for communicators.
Digital intelligence is no longer reserved for a handful of people in an organization. Agencies and corporations are paying top dollar for the best digital talent, and these organizations are jump starting training programs to create their own digital talent. Even Boomers wedded to traditional ways of communicating must make a major shift and embrace everything digital. This blog has been an amazing learning tool for me personally, and I’m slowly entering the world of Twitter. In the process, I realize how fast change occurs. For instance, I’m replacing the never-used fax number on my business cards with my Twitter address, @rculp.
I realize I’m only scratching the surface of what’s possible. What things have you found particularly helpful as you increasingly work in the digital space?