Social media - traditional media’s resuscitator

Published on Tuesday, 24 May 2011

  

In the past, the opportunity to be a publisher or a broadcaster was open to a select few. Now that's extended from the newsroom to the street, and traditional media is being forced to change.

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Note: This is the edited text of a speech delivered at the Azerbaijan Media Center, Baku, on Friday 20 May, 2011.

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Social media - traditional media’s resuscitator

These are exciting times for those of us with a story to tell.

In the past, the opportunity to be a publisher or a broadcaster was open to a select few.

Now anyone can become a global media brand.

The job of finding, producing and distributing content has extended from the newsroom to the street.

In some countries, traditional, mainstream media has got lazy; they stopped trying many years ago.

They failed to take account of changing audience behaviour.

They lost touch with their audience.

The death of the ‘publish at’ and ‘broadcast at’ model

They had a 'publish at' or 'broadcast at' attitude.

They knew best.

They saw themselves as an authority and they saw the audience as consumers of whatever they chose to offer.

The audience had no say - unless invited - and even then it was on the media's terms.

But then technology advanced and the tools were developed to enable anyone to research, create and disseminate content.

And some traditional mainstream media organisations - not all, but some - failed to see the significance.

Social media means the 'publish at' and 'broadcast at' models are dead

Social media – the game changer

Then came social media.

At first there was a cacophony of noise that was hard to follow.

But then those designing social media tools got smarter, and social media became more focused and personalised through tagging, lists, and other filters.

The noise was reduced and meaningful communication and instant participation enabled.

It empowered the individual who had a story to tell with the tools to proclaim their news to the world.

But still, some traditional, mainstream media organisations failed to respond.

And the audience moved away and found a new home in their preferred social networking space, where they met like-minded individuals and formed communities.

Those bonds grew.

Individuals who were once loan voices - sometimes heard, often ignored - became recognised.

Based on the quality of the content they produced they began to gain followers through peer group recommendation.

Those followers responded, added value to what was being said, and shared the information with their contacts.

And with smart tagging, it all went viral.

Social media tipped the power balance away from mainstream media

The growth of ‘middle media’

And as this happened, a new 'middle media', made up of informed bloggers and social networkers began to develop.

These were individuals who wrote and broadcast with authority, not because they were paid to do so, but because they had knowledge and a passion that they wanted to share with the world.

In some newsrooms ... journalists were rewriting news releases and handouts, or copy/pasting the news wires ... pretending it was journalism.

Gradually, networks began to be built; experts linking their skills and sharing information.

At the same time - in some newsrooms - tired, lifeless 'professional' journalists were rewriting news releases and handouts, or copy/pasting the news wires, publishing and broadcasting the resulting content and pretending it was journalism.

But, in such a scenario, who is the real journalist?

The 'professional' journalist - paid to work 9-5 and regurgitate processed information, or the informed social networking blogger who has specialist knowledge of a topic, writes 24x7, is not paid and, often, produces original, stimulating and informative content.

The growth of 'middle media' is a clear threat to a complacent mainstream

The importance of a social media strategy

The traditional, mainstream media organisations that get it right are those that have formulated a social media strategy based on taking note of changing audience behaviour.

For many, social media is now a central part of the newsgathering, news production and news distribution strategy.

The continued growth of social media could awaken those traditional media houses that have failed in their duty to inform the public debate

They have joined the global social media conversation and contribute to that conversation.

They ask questions and answer questions, and the content they produce contains audience input which the audience trusts and, because it is about the issues that concern them, they comment, add value and share.

Because of that, the media landscape will never be the same again.

Traditional media that fails to recognise and respond to this on-going change is probably doomed.

However, the continued growth of social media could awaken those traditional media houses that have failed in their duty to inform the public debate.

It could signal the end of copy/paste journalism and result in a flourishing of vibrant people-focused journalism.

Social media could go down in history as having been the resuscitator that jolted mainstream media back to life.

Social media could go down in history as having been the resuscitator that jolted mainstream media back to life

 

Note: This is the edited text of a speech delivered at the Azerbaijan Media Center, Baku, on Friday 20 May, 2011, at the end of a week-long media management strategy training course.

 

  

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