The PR revolution will be televised
So far today, we’ve posted six news stories, a Dr Mumbo article and an opinion piece (or two if you count this one).
And the thought occurs. Excluding this piece, every item was supported with either video or, in our weekly podcast’s case, audio.
And in most cases, it was PR or brand-provided.
A few weeks back, ZDNet’s entertaining Renai LeMay wrote an opinion piece suggesting that plain text journalism is dead.
I think he may be right.
Tim Burrowes
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
Linkedin
I’m sure he is (and now you are) right. Kids can’t read but they can watch!
User ID not verified.
I’m a PR Account Director with Hill & Knowlton in Sydney, and also a Producer for their online content division, Connect.
I can tell you from our end, we’ve definitely seen a sharp increase in the use of online video across the full range of our teams whether its consumer, healthcare, technology… Everyone is getting in on the action. It’s set to increase further as clients share their successes and further content is either created locally or sent down through the regional offices.
Knowing their justified gripes around press releases, I’ve so far resisted the urge to phone up the journos and say, “So I’m just calling to see you got our video…. (click)”
User ID not verified.
You may be right Tom – but do you want to know how many of your text posts I read in proportion to video posts I watched?
User ID not verified.
Mmmm….
Nonsense, I reckon.
As monkeytypist is (I think) suggesting – how much of all this multi-media content is ACTUALLY being consumed?
Personally? Much of what I read is done at work (don’t tell the boss) and playing video tends to give the game away. (Plus YouTube is blocked from our work servers, along with other rich content, anyway). While at home, my mobile broadband doesn’t really keep up with a lot of video (and until a provider offers a reasonably priced plan that DOESN’T lock us renters into long-term contracts with hideous change-of-address fees I’ll be sticking to the airwaves). So I watch very little video there, too.
Video is only ever an occasional add-on to me, by no means my primary net news source. Ever. And I suspect many/most are the same.
User ID not verified.
Monkeytypist.. i havent even posted yet, and I’m ALREADy right. Thats good..
For the record, I agree that plain print media is certainly dying. All good media is mixed…
User ID not verified.
I definitely dodge the videos here or elsewhere – unless I really feel I have to watch, and it’s short!
User ID not verified.
I’m with you, Jason, on all counts.
User ID not verified.
I wish it didn’t take so long for the video content to upload and play in all of those stories!
User ID not verified.
while this and the ZDNet posts are intentionally provocative, Mumbrella ‘s support of them belies it’s narrow focus on consumer/product ‘journalism’
technology ‘journalism’ and other forms of product publicity are a small subset of a much larger, more important and more influential world of journalism that encompasses politics, business, world affairs, the environment and so on.
the idea that plain text journalism is dead would not be shared by serious journalists, in my view. In these and many other areas, serious news and opinion will still be preferentially consumed, and therefore produced, as the written word
User ID not verified.
completely with Jason on this one!
User ID not verified.
I’m with sven. There’s increasingly a place for all types of media, which is great. To say plain text is dead is far too sweeping a generalisation.
User ID not verified.
I wonder if newspapers of old had the ability to offer a different media consumption experience would they embrace it or ignore it? Same with radio stations, are they really just frustrated TV stations that can’t broadcast vision? Silly questions I guess, but really, the web offers a convergence of media that allows the user to choose how they want to digest their info.
It doesn’t mean that plain text is dead, but rather it is complemented by richer forms of media… Sometimes, a video does the best job, whilst other times written word is far more expressive and interpretive (we all know that the best books rarely make the best films)
User ID not verified.