Bringing Business to Business

New Technology, Newspaper Wars and a PR Junkie, Oh My!

May 3, 2010 at 7:54 pm 1 comment

As I was batting around different blog entry ideas in my head, I thought, maybe I’ll write about Apple’s sleek, new gadget, the iPad and how it might just save the world, or at least the newspaper industry….

I was reading varying opinions in the blogosphere on the subject matter when my first issue of Bloomberg Businessweek landed on my desk.  As I was flipping through the newly consolidated magazine, yes, actually reading a physical hard copy, an article in the media column, “Is the Times Ready for a Newspaper War?” caught my attention.  The article talks about The Wall Street Journal’s new “New York” section and how this move by Murdoch is an attempt to “kick the [NY] Times when it’s down” according to media industry analyst and blogger Alan Mutter.  This got me reflecting on the state of the industry.

With newspapers struggling so hard to stay afloat and magazine sales in the toilet, I felt a sense of nostalgia for the “olden days” of media when the daily paper arrived at your doorstop rather than your in-box, when you could open your morning paper and indeed it was the news of the day rather than the news of last night, and when the Sunday paper was the size of an encyclopedia rather than the size of well, Apple’s, sleek, new gadget.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of online media (and new technology) and think that the new media environment has allowed us to broaden our reach both professionally and personally.  Would Betty White have ever been asked to host SNL without a Facebook campaign?  Let me further digress…Did you know that Facebook has 400 million users, LinkedIn boasts 60 million users, and Twitter reports 50 million tweets per day?  In fact, the Library of Congress will be archiving all the collected works of Twitter as part of its ‘Web Capture’ project.  This data is truly staggering and wow, what opportunities… 

But, I must admit, I did yearn briefly for a moment in time.  However, as long as I can still fetch my Sunday paper off the front porch, scour it while enjoying my morning coffee, and can then turn to my computer (or my phone for that matter), check Google News, read my favorite blogs, see who’s “friended” me on Facebook and check out the latest “tweet”, this PR girl is one satisfied news junkie!

– Jen Klein

Entry filed under: Media Relations, Social Media. Tags: Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Facebook, iPad, LinkedIn, morning coffee, New York Times, newspaper, Sunday paper, Twitter, Wall Street Journal.