By: Rubiah binti Ibrahim 2009608748
PR has a role in reshaping news using the new media. The time of the Public relations versus the reporter hound is over. We all create news that goes directly to readers. Brands are covering their own beat, often exceptionally well. You can call what PR does “creating content” and what reporters do “journalism” but to the readers, it is all news and information. They are not only taking the bread from the table of a weakened advertising sector but encroaching onto the old territory of television and press companies. This article discussed about Edelman, an American owned PR firm with 51 offices around the world. Edelman has done a good PR job in promoting its own brand. The public relations sectors are struggling to stand out and some of the big PR agencies have had a pretty tough couple of years. Edelman has used that as an opportunity to raise the bar with its brand. The weakness of traditional advertising is encouraging businesses to demand a greater profile within editorial content.
Therefore, they are giving brands the opportunity to think more about technologies and content, Edelman’s strategy is altogether different. Edelman hired Richard Sambrook the former head of BBC News and has given him the title of ‘Chief Content Officer’ which caused surprise to the media. Sambrook was positive that Edelman’s clients must take their message directly to the consumer. He believes that every company has to be a media company in their own right, telling stories through websites, branded entertainment, video, iPad and mobile applications. The fragmentation of traditional media, with shrinking audiences are decline in trust, they believe by converting to new media such as generating blog, video and website can boost their company’s reputation.
The company is not moving into the news business, but it is seeking a reputation for high-quality content because editorial values are important and content has to have credibility and integrity. We are at a moment when a lot of the traditional lines between PR, consulting, advertising and broadcasting are blurring. There’s this idea that PR is the medium for the age of dialogue and social media. Nowadays, Journalist have often taken the PR coin, the sector is boosting up by its current status in the media hierarchy. The root of the issue is that the popularity of social media platforms and the interactivity that they offer consumers has given public relations firms, which have always had to argue their case, an advantage over ad companies that have specialized the “push messaging”.
Another reason the rise of social networks has allowed PR to stand alongside advertising and other media disciplines, is that it is openly measurable. For years the only metrics PRs had to prove their worth were advertising value equivalents or number of clippings. Now there are excess that can give an insight into how far a message has gone, who has read it, acted on it and passed it on. Consumers are increasingly media savvy and able to cut right through. In the age of social media, the role of PR is no longer to spin stories in the mainstream press but to help organizations engage openly and honestly with the public.
The way to counter that is for businesses to stop hiding behind polished messages and slick spokesmen, and to start talking with the public like intelligent human beings. Social media channels make it easier to do this, but only if businesses approach them intelligently instead of just trying to use them as another tool for broadcasting. Time spent writing press releases has been moved into writing corporate blog posts, writing bi-lines for CEOs has moved to running their twitter streams. This shift is more of an evolution that it is a "revolution" in my opinion, we are seeing the next evolution in the communications method, we have moved from the traditional ways to the Twitter and Facebook , it is these things that are now shaping public opinion
I like the fact that today's public relations no longer have to depend on gatekeepers or journalists for coverage as we have new media to help us spread information, to bond with consumers, to gain feedback etc. However, I do believe that,traditional media. especially in Malaysia is still consider as the main source of information.Nevertheless, everything has its own pros and cons so thus new media.
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