Recently, Deirdre Breakenridge blogged about the state of affairs between PR and journalism because of the increasing influence of social media. Her fundamental conclusion is that the two practices will always share a symbiotic relationship despite the transformative impact of the communicative and networking capabilities wrought by Web 2.0 technologies. I couldn't agree more, and since she asked for readers to add their thoughts about the question, I offered the response below as I pondered this matter...
I think one of the answers to this question must lie in the philosophy about modern-day customer relations and the fact that, because of citizen journalism empowered through social media platforms, anybody can talk about anybody else and their comments may gain incredible traction and go viral online. With this in mind, organizational PR or public affairs practitioners can no longer just single out journalists as their main target audiences because even the ‘ordinary’ member of public calling in through the phone may well turn out to be the biggest fan, or critic, depending on how he/she was treated during the transaction.
So who's our A-List journalist, now that almost anyone with access to the Internet can and is probably maintaining a 'journal' or something of their experiences and opinions, with anything from a whimper to a roar of a following?
So, yes, PR/PA's relationship with journalists have fundamentally shifted and communication practitioners have a larger piece of the pie to look after. They need to be prepared for the fact that, unlike the generally greater immediacy of transactions with journalists that translates into 'effect' on the printed pages or the television screens, having a plan to foster good relationships with key bloggers and influencers may not lead to any discernible and immdiate returns, and returns are often not seen until a real relationship is forged (and God knows how long that will take).
However, not spending time and effort on blogger relations will almost certainly have negative consequences when crises hit. Social media means that everyone is a journalist, and for better or worse, organizations need to come to terms with this phenomenon.
But unlike the utopian situation where they can juggle perfectly with everything without dropping anything, the reality is that limitations in manpower and resources will mean that community engagement initiatives must be surgical and targeted. It's all about strategic communication planning.
The need to identify one's communication ecosystem and who the most influential communicators are, vis-a-vis how much the PR unit can competently do, will be inevitable. My view is that as much as communication practitioners need to keep their eyes opened and not discriminate anyone in the communication ecosystem, they have no choice but to plan carefully how they prioritize their outreach efforts. To aim to reach out to everyone is laudable but idealistic. They will need to be 'on target' with the key influencers so that it gives them a fighting chance of managing a flow and dialogue with the hope that additional layers of conversations can be added over time as their communication management system matures and stabilizes.
To do so simply helps to ensure survival.
Not to do so will be utterly suicidal!