Comments on: As Ad Spending Declines, What of Media?

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:35:51 +0000

Craig — Notwithstanding Dr. Grunig’s theory, I believe persuasion is still a hallmark of our practice. The learned Bob Batchelor (soon to join us at Kent State to lead the grad program) has said that Excellence just hasn’t taken root in the practice, and so demonstrates the need for different models. The role of social media in PR practice will be similar in some areas to the role of the mainstream media, as I discuss here. But in other ways, the Excellence model may find purchase. And, indeed, I agree that demand for our services may well increase, provided our clients are willing to pay for it. See Dana’s comment — gives one hope!

Thanks so much for taking the time to join our conversation.

By: craig pearce

craig pearce — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:42:24 +0000

One of a strategic public relations (should be a tautological statement, I know…) professional’s capabilities should be having the skill to determine who or what can increase a target audience’s awareness of an issue, product or service and, maybe (though not according to James Grunig), even influence their perspective of it.

As such, the demand for an excellent professional communicator should not be obviated by the existence of social media. It should, in fact be increased.

Advice is needed on where to place the communication emphasis (and budget) to get business-relevant results. And as PR professionals are the conversation experts, then the future looks rosy for us indeed.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:27:24 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Dana. Appreciate your stopping by.

UPDATED: OK, now I can respond more substantively. You said:
“You’re right, in many ways bloggers are the new expert, the new journalists – its just about setting oneself apart as a knowledgeable, trustworthy authority on a subject, and sharing it in an entertaining or compelling way.”

The big deal is that no one has vetted us, either by training or experience. We appear on the scene and try to earn an audience. The social media orthodoxy is that over time, this will all work out. But at the moment someone discovers us, opining authoritatively, it’s totally caveat emptor. We have to figure out what that means for us. Secondly, there is no doubt that bloggers can use professional PR, particularly if one doesn’t have that skill set — but that even assumes that a given blogger’s goals include gaining an audience beyond their organic growth. Probably not a good assumption; it’s going to differ, person to person, which makes it difficult to build a business model around.

Thanks again for your interest and participation, Dana, and best of luck!

By: The Broke-Ass Bride

The Broke-Ass Bride — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:13:26 +0000

I’ll tell ya, its not unrealistic to need PR as a blogger. I know many who have reps, and many who kill themselves doing their own PR. You’re right, in many ways bloggers are the new expert, the new journalists – its just about setting oneself apart as a knowledgeable, trustworthy authority on a subject, and sharing it in an entertaining or compelling way.

And having just come from 2 tech conferences, the trend of big biz is clearly to take print/tv ad budgets and apply them to develop new media and ads online. The world is changing, every day, yo! Great post!

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Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:11:05 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Judy Gombita and BrokeAssBride / Dana, Sean Williams. Sean Williams said: Feeling like the media sky really is falling. New post: http://bit.ly/2RjsoI [...]