The newspaper is evolving. Rapidly. The age old institution is changing its ways and yes, we PRs must ensure we’re keeping up.
The trend of newspapers building up their online comment and blogging platforms is growing and there are no signs of this slowing down. Just this week the Mail Online launched ’Right Minds’ – it’s very own online blogging space, much like ‘Comment is Free’ from The Guardian site. Not only does Right Minds feature online-only comment from its regular journalists such as Melanie Phillips and Richard Littlejohn, but it provides links to outside bloggers such as Guido Fawkes, Politico and Conservative Home. Readers are urged to join in live debates and vote in polls. Next week, the free London newspaper, City AM, is about to launch its own version called ‘The Forum’, as media don Roy Greenslade reports. So the boundaries between journalism and readers are falling, with greater interaction between the two. This will allow newspapers to know their audiences better and be more accountable for what they write about, which over time could substantially change the nature of newspaper reporting itself.
But what does this mean for PR and communications? The trend of newspapers evolving their basic operation from print to online is full of opportunities. With an initial article becoming the platform of debate, potentially involving a whole pool of specialists and experts, emphasis will shift from the individual journalist and media outlet to the wider discourse on a subject. And in turn, the role of communications will be less and less ‘behind the scenes’ but increasingly public, transparent and open.
