The changing face of PR and journalism in a digital world
Some interesting news from PR Week today – according to the Oriella PR Network European Digital Journalism Survey 2009, a result of the digital revolution is that ‘journalists increasingly rely on PR’. The research suggests that, under pressure to produce more content than ever thanks to the requirements of the digital world, journalists are turning to PR content to fill the gaps.
http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/938606/Oriella-PR-Network-survey-finds-journalists-increasingly-rely-PR/
In April last year, I attended a rather lively debate which pitted Lord Bell, chairman of Chime Communications, against journalist Nick Davies (amongst others) – the motion was: ‘The growth of PR is threatening the integrity of the press’. Davies argued that, thanks to the changing fortunes of the newspaper industry, journalists were under pressure to produce more copy than ever before yet had less time to do it. There was not enough time for investigative and in-depth journalism, and – without sufficient time for fact-checking - the press were forced to rely on information issued by press offices, simply in order to meet their deadlines.
In the end, the motion was overturned (it seemed the general feeling was that, while journalists might be forced to rely on PRs and their content, the fortunes of the newspaper industry were not the fault of PR). But, to myself and my friends who attended - not PRs, in case you’re wondering - there was a strong sense of resentment from some of the journalists present that this was the order of things.
And this is what makes the Oriella research so interesting – because according to PR Week, ‘the poll also found that many of the journalists surveyed said the impact of digital had changed journalism for the better’.
Perhaps, although the press are dealing with more PR content than ever, the digital revolution has given us all a broader perspective with which to view it. When Twitter can give you a snapshot of a mood, and citizen journalists are offering their own perspective on world events, there is no point in PR ‘spin’ – because the digital world will see right through it. There’s no sense in PRs overselling a product to a journalist, when a host of online forums will tell a different story.
There is undoubtedly much change still to come for both the newspaper and the PR industries. And the developing digital world could just make things better for everyone.