While participatory media is still arguably in its early stages, it’s hard to argue that enabling technologies like blogs and podcasts haven’t already delivered a swift back handed slap to the print and broadcast radio gatekeepers.
Without question, there are tectonic shifts underway with respect to media consumption – some folks get this, others are fighting it and some just don’t have a clue – those who can adapt quickly, however, will dodge the next wind up because like it or not, another big slap is coming folks – this time right out of the TV.
Participatory television is moving from concept to reality, in fact we’re already seeing early advances in this area with the introduction of experiments like Current TV, the soon-to-be-launched cable channel that will solicit for and show viewer-contributed content. While it’s hard to say with any certainty how successful new models like Current’s will ultimately be, I think the idea of democratizing the channel’s programming with independent content from small producers is a huge step in the right direction (very long tail-ish). I also think the idea of participatory TV has interesting implications for PR, something I and several others commented on recently in a PR Week article (sub req’d).
Where blogs and podcasts have provided people with powerful new tools for print and broadcast opinion making, it seems only natural that the tube represent the final frontier for a participatory media attack. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it will happen. Video production used to cost an arm and a leg, now it costs an Apple PowerBook and a high-speed connection. New services like Google and Yahoo Video are also lowering the barrier to entry for small producers and drastically improving content distribution channels. Over time, video indexes will provide networks (big and small) with more than enough creative content.
In fact, with the potential for so much content to be generated and shared online, let alone, its potential to find a home in traditional network television programming (like Current), the PR practitioner is reminded yet again of the rapidly changing media landscape – and is tasked yet again with devising totally new communications strategies and tactics for reaching audiences.
Mike Manuel is the founder of the award winning Media Guerrilla blog. Media Guerrilla is an insiders take on the practice of technology public relations with a focus on the issues, tactics and trends that are specific to the tech industry.
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