So, I’ve recently started following @TheMediaIsDying on Twitter, and it’s been a little disconcerting to see a new Tweet every 30 minutes or so about another media outlet that has either folded or axed several people in one cut. While this is the case across all industries because of the [insert expletive here] economy, when you factor in New Media and the evolution of the way people are now retaining their information and news–it’s easy to see that this is more than just a “rough” patch for traditional media outlets.

This has got me thinking about where “The Media” is headed next and whether or not this is a good OR bad time to be in PR?

Clearly, with the speed of information delivery online and the rapid growth of bloggers and micro-blogging sites (such as Twitter), people are looking less to their weekly, monthly, and even nightly news sources, because the conversation at hand has already happened at the watercooler weeks, days, or hours earlier, and as such, news quickly becomes stale.

What does this mean for people on the PR side of the coin? Well, on the one hand, turnover at the media outlets is at it’s highest, so a colleague who was once your “warm” contact might not be by the next morning, and as such building new and more relationships everyday is increasingly important. It would also seem that there are less outlets to take your story to. On the other hand though, the growth of social media and how it is actively used by reporters, editors and producers to source stories opens up a whole new world of opportunities and a way to get even closer with these new friends, virtually. It also always us to be more educated when pitching the media on their tone, their style, their interests and what they will and won’t cover.

Here is a summary on what I’ve learned from @TheMediaIsDying in the month of December alone:

• Expect more layoffs from NAT ENQUIRER, STAR etc – publisher just missed a multi million debt payment. 7:14 PM Dec 12th from web
• TORONTOIST is shutting down. 5:52 PM Dec 12th from web
• WUSA (Gannett’s CBS affiliate) is moving to one-person news crews. 1:25 PM Dec 12th from web
• CHICAGO DAILY HERALD layoffs begin today – double digit expected. 12:49 PM Dec 12th from web
• MTV and VH1 are considering combining their talent departments. 9:50 PM Dec 11th from web
• Additional layoffs from MTV include John Norris, Susie Castillo, Ocean MacAdams, Jennifer Vineyard, Shawn Adler and others. 9:49 PM Dec 11th from web
• Daily gossip column in DAILY NEWS by George Rush and Joanna Molloy to go weekly (Sunday only). 9:04 PM Dec 11th from web
• TECHTARGET has folded print editions of INFO SECURITY MAG and STORAGE MAGAZINE. 75 layoffs with around 12 from editorial. 4:54 PM Dec 11th from web
• CAREERBUILDER lays off 300. 4:43 PM Dec 11th from web
• CNET SF has laid off 100 employees 4:21 PM Dec 11th from web
• Rumors of major FOX broadcast layoffs in very early ‘09 – NY, Chicago and Texas expected to have major cuts. 3:43 PM Dec 11th from web
• Confirmed NPR losses are Farai Chideya, John McChesney, Libby Lewis, Ketzel Levine, Madeleine Brand and Paul Farhi. 12:00 PM Dec 11th from web
• NEWSWEEK will announce cuts and new format magazine layout/focus today. 11:47 AM Dec 11th from web
• UPDATE: 65 lay offs @ NPR by EOD – no digi media cuts – 34 go in news inc Howard Berkes out. 6:34 PM Dec 10th from web
• TIME CANADA is closing. 5:36 PM Dec 10th from web
• FINANCIAL WEEK will become an online only publication moving forward. 3:09 PM Dec 10th from web
• OK! magazine slashes cover price to $2.99 from $3.49. 1:08 PM Dec 10th from web
• TRIBUNE CO has now filed for bankruptcy – TV in 19 markets, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Chicago Cubs and other properties will be affected. 2:56 PM Dec 8th from web
• BROKER magazine is no longer publishing. 4:02 PM Dec 6th from web
• BET is cutting 50 jobs. 5:54 PM Dec 5th from web

Obviously major change is on the horizon for the media industry, and while I feel terrible for the people losing jobs across the country (and at this time of year no less; harsh much?), I can’t help but be a little excited about what’s next and where we’re headed. I love dealing with online coverage outlets, and more and more, its the online hits that are of most value to our clients, because they drive direct traffic to the client’s site.

My hunch is that those who are embracing social media and are learning as much as they can about the way things are shifting may lose their existing job but will have the skills to move on to the new slew of jobs that will be created as a result.

Thanks to @TheMediaIsDying!

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

Tags: Alyson Campbell, amp3, AMP3 pr, AMP3 Public Relations, Is The Media Dying?, It's All Very PR, The Media is Dying, Trends in the Media Industry

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under pr talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.