Next in Line for a Bailout: The American Print Media?

It’s no secret that times are tough for many industries right now, and the American print media is no exception. It seems every time you turn around, another print outlet is folding, slashing circulation or staff, going completely online or even borrowing against its digs to pay the bills.

Back in June, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer predicted that in as little as 10 years, all news will be disseminated online. “There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form,” Ballmer told the Washington Post.

Evidence of a shift from print to online news is unmistakable. Google recently announced an initiative to bring more magazine archives and current magazines online, partnering with publications like New York Magazine, Popular Mechanics and Ebony. Many magazines and newspapers are moving to 100% digital editions, and on these sites, user-generated content and social media tools are growing at an enormous rate. Blogs like Newspaper Death Watch and News after Newspapers are devoted to “the death of print,” Twitter accounts like @themediaisdying follow the trend and even the American Society of Newspaper Editors is considering allowing Web site editors to join its ranks.

So what does this mean for the public relations profession? Our fate is firmly wedded to that of the news media, regardless of how the world decides to get its news. The definition and scope of the public relations profession has been in flux since Edward L. Bernays, “the father of public relations,” founded the discipline. The latest topic of discussion is whether the very name of our profession will change— as social tools become increasingly ubiquitous, will we all become “social media practitioners,” or will our new roles simply be absorbed into the old?

The path is not clear, but one thing is sure for those of us in print and PR — the only certainty is change.

- Jamie Nolan