Yesterday I chatted with Tara Leurs at the Tennessee Department of Tourism. It was Tara’s last day with the Department; she has decided to leave the job and profession that she is extremely passionate about to stay home with her new daughter. While Tara is certainly excited at the prospect of spending more time with her baby girl, she is well aware of the rapid pace of change in the field of public relations, and wants to be sure to remain up-to-date on these developments.
Tara explained that one of her biggest challenges as a PR professional has been keeping up with technology and the rapid changes in media. As we spoke, I contemplated all the new sources of media that we have begun monitoring since I began working for BurrellesLuce.
“I don’t think traditional media is going anywhere,” Tara explained, “but although traditional media remains an important part of the Tennessee Department of Tourism efforts, the PR department has also embraced emerging media such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.”
The tourism website uses multimedia to engage visitors. Videos by Tennessee celebrities such as Keith Urban and Martina McBride share their “Tennessee stories” and encourage readers to publish their own “Tennessee story” right on the site. Tara was incredulous at how the use of online video has emerged in the past few years, recalling when YouTube was “a place to show off skateboard tricks.” Now, of course, YouTube is an extremely important piece of the media mix.
Tara knows that, just like her new daughter, the media will continue to grow and change. And while change can be challenging, it certainly offers new opportunities. Tara has promised to keep in touch with me through Twitter and may start blogging or writing. While I don’t know what the media landscape will look like when Tara’s daughter turns 2 or 5, I am certain that she will learn and share information in ways we have just begun to imagine.
How do you see the media landscape changing in the next five years? What do you believe will be the next platform for sharing news?
Traditional media will continue to stick around despite the growing use of social networking for PR and media opportunities.
Social networking won’t go away. The players and applications will most likely change. Remember MySpace was huge. Now people don’t include it when they mention the big social networking sites.