Media relations put out to pasture?

Is it time, yet? Can we viably say that as traditional print publications start going the way of the dodo that media relations as the core competency of a public relations practitioner is on its way out, too?

One thing that still makes me upset and frustrated with former colleagues and clients is the inability to move beyond measuring the ‘value’ of a media hit. It’s tempting, I know, because it IS something you can clip and paste – you can make a book and see if it’s thicker than the year before. If it is, good work, you’ve still got a job! Less? Please explain.

Just as Brian Solis has been arguing now for years, it began as PUBLIC relations and to such shall it return. Day by day the PUBLIC are becoming the beacons of information, the central hub of sharing and knowledge. It’s true, we’ll always have to work hard to find the right members of the public, but we can’t rest on the bylines of newspapers and magazines anymore. We have to talk to people, eat our own dogfood, get engaged with the product and it’s consumers!

I’m not in social media because I love the bright shiny new toy. I’m entering social media because I think it’s eventually going to be the ONLY place for someone like me – someone who loves to communicate and build bridges between people in companies and people in streets.