If the telegram is still around, then …

• July 22, 2008

By Leo Valiquette

Since joining the inmedia team after almost a decade working in traditional media, I’ve been somewhat bemused by all the talk in the blogosphere of the impact of social media. Traditional media is withering away, some would have us think, in favour of content driven by the people for the people. The mass communication tools of Web 2.0 (whatever that really is) have empowered citizen journalism like nothing else could.

It’s the next generation of that same old video-killed-the-radio-star debate that’s been going on since, well, the advent of video. I heard it when I went back to school for journalism in the late 1990s. I lived it for eight years at a weekly business publication where the web wasn’t considered a threat, but a boon in the daily challenge of keeping on top of breaking news when your product hit the street only once a week. In that context, the web was the great equalizer. We enjoyed consistent, strong web traffic because our readers saw the paper as a trusted source of news and insight that was relevant to them.

I’ve blogged on this before, that being viewed as a trusted source of news will become even more important, not less so, in this age of citizen journalism. There is no doubt that traditional media is being forced to give some ground before a new challenger, but for the forseeable future they will co-exist.

This fact is readily apparent when one looks at the reach and influence of the trade and industry press that we target for our media outreach efforts on behalf of clients. As I write this, I’m in the final days of assuming Linda’s responsibilities before she heads off on maternity leave. The number of newsletters she subscribes to in order to keep her finger on the pulse of the news and issues relevant to her clients is astonishing. These are influential and widely read publications that we can’t afford to ignore if we are to provide the high degree of client service that inmedia prides itself on. And yes, there are influential bloggers among them, but many of those bloggers are still journalists working for a traditional media channel.

While the death of traditional media has been exaggerated, so too has the demise of traditional public relations and marketing efforts. In fact, shops like Social Media Group and Livingston Communications purport to focus exclusively on social media marketing and communications. In announcing the merger of the two agencies this week, Livingston CEO Geoff Livingston told PRWeek that agencies that attempt to provide both social and traditional media outreach end up selling their clients short because doing both “hampers their thinking.”

Huh?

That’s brand positioning speak if I ever heard it. Maybe I’m old-school and my perspective on the matter betrays archaic thinking, but I still think all these channels that fall under the heading of “social media” are just another set of tools to be integrated into a larger public relations and marketing strategy, not a strategy in and of themselves to be focused on to the exclusion of all else. And wiser souls much more savvy with this stuff than I agree. You engage with one or more of these channels because it makes sense to do so, because you’ve been able to confirm that they will allow you to engage in a fresh and impactful way with a specific segment of your community you have deemed important to your business growth and development. It must be much more than “let’s do social media because it’s all the rage right now,” or “drop Facebook, I’ve heard about this new thing called Twitter.”

Bottom line, no one knows for sure how the prevalence of social media will impact traditional media, or traditional public relations for that matter, over the long term. But even the telegram is still around, so that should tell us something. The only thing we can say with any certainty is that the message remains more important than the medium and being able to create a clear and impactful message will always be key.