It is often said that the move to new media is being ignored by many in PR. On the 8th December the CIPR hosted a round table discussion chaired by Colin Farringdon and David Phillips. It is easy enough to say that less people are reading newspapers and more are getting their news online, but the main point of the discussion was to understand what that means, particularly for those in PR. Larry Weber from Racepoint Group made the point that it would be in about 18 months time (mid 2008) when online/new media would no longer be in the minority in comparison to traditional media. In other words, the majority media in a year and a half will be online and the traditional mainstream newspaper and TV stations will be in the minority. Blogs are a thing which can make anyone a journalist and in principle everyone has an equal chance of being heard. PR’s role is to struggle to get their client heard. Into this new media world, where all the rules are different, it is difficult not to think it will be a bigger struggle and it will be good content that will win out.
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