The Convergence of PR, Traditional Media and Social Media

One of the most profound changes in the media we consume in recent years is going largely unnoticed. The convergence of public relations, traditional media and social media is causing lines to be crossed – or at least blurred – and that's making it nearly impossible to distinguish PR from traditional media or social media. It appears that this convergence is accelerating, and what that means is content today is often a bit of everything mixed together.

Let me explain. Traditional media – newspapers, radio and television – once ran news only created by their own reporters or from wire services that also used only journalists. The role of public relations was to work with these journalists to "pitch" or suggest story ideas that would interest the reporters because it would be of interest to their readers or audience

Today, as traditional media makes is digital transformation, it is morphing into something else. The online news sites created by traditional media still feature content written by journalists. But today only a portion of online news content is actually written by independent journalists. More and more executives, consultants and other experts are contributing blogs to online news sites. While their content may appear to be independent, much of this content involves skilled public relations professionals providing guidance, if not crafting the entire piece. Most importantly, for most readers, it is nearly impossible to tell what content was written by a journalist and content created by a non-journalist.

This blurring of the lines between PR and traditional media is important, because revenue models today for news sites are driven by traffic. If a blogger has a bigger following than a journalist, whose content is more important or valuable for the media entity? Many of my journalist friends today are being forced to change, as well. Most wear two hats: journalist and blogger. Often they are not the same in terms of the content that is created. What they write for the paper may be one thing, and what they write online another.