One of the more interesting developments in online news over the past year has been the rapid adoption of conversational media tools – e.g. blogs, RSS and podcasting – by the traditional mainstream media.
While not everyone is on board yet (e.g. Forbes has no blogs and Newsday has no RSS feeds), I do feel that most of the big media does see the forest growing around them and are rapidly adapting.
However, a story that has not been written yet is how the big media will use social media to transcend the boundaries of who they are. For example, I would love to see more newspapers producing podcasts much like the Ventura County Star has done (registration required). In addition, on the flip side,
I would love to see more radio personalities writing weblogs. Media companies would not only be wise to embrace these “bottom-up technologies” but to use them to redefine who they are.
A newspaper need not only consist of the written word. Newspapers should be podcasting, TV and radio stations should be blogging and bloggers should be writing books. It’s hard to be a one-trick-pony in this new media world.
Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.
He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.
