The purpose of this blog is to share insights on the power of communications to drive results — success for commercial enterprise and results when we speak of the public good. Danah Boyd, who writes Apophenia, one of the most insightful blogs in the communications zone, yesterday submitted her resignation from mainstream media (MSM) because of how they are covering the presidential primaries. Her main complaint is the media’s penchant fo
r stories with conflict and drama to “sell papers.”
Having been both a reporter for and, as a public relations guy, a supplier to the MSM, I would counter that it’s less an institutional bias than it is the DNA of reporters, editors, news producers and the like to scoop the competition with a dramatic story that gains attention. Sure, if you work there selling papers is of acknowledged importance, but for the individual journalists it’s not the main driver. Having the best story of the day is.
That being said, media remains important to the candidates marketing themselves as well as to companies selling products. But media are no longer the only brokers of opinion.
My take: a media outlet and its news and analysis are less the principal sources of information than they are as platforms for discussions. Bloggers are critical to the formation of opinion and (I submit) to the catalysis of behavior. Bloggers like Dana Boyd are being referred about and quoted in conversations among people (not just in the media).
They provide the insight and perspective that we are paying attention to.
What does the above mean for anyone in business marketing? Blogs and other social media will speak with individuals comprising communities of interest. Therefore any plan for communications must now address the bloggers and other Web 2.0 technologies as means of relating with these communities.
John:
Agreed. Any communications plan worth its salt these days has to incorporate a social media element. And often times, it’s the bloggers who break news. That said, mainstream media will always have a role and a credibility that is unequalled. And clients still want that Wall St. Journal hit. My 2 cents.