The PR business is changing from an industry that once relied on traditional content producers, into a field that is leveraging new tools and crafting unique audio and video content itself.

Prior to the internet boom, if you had a story you wanted to tell you had a variety of options from local & network television, to radio, newspapers, and a wide variety of periodicals.  So, your best bet was to craft a news release and start pitching to the respective outlets that you were targeting.  Along the way you would find a number of different reactions from the standard “We’ll get back to you…” to the “That’s not something we would be interested in,” or “Send me more information.”  Ultimately, if your story was accepted by an editor or a reporter, the final message was in their hands.  You could only provide them with the information and coordinate an interview - from there it was up to them what would make the final cut.

While those were the rules of the game, for professionals who pride ourselves on helping our clients to tell their stories that created a pretty vulnerable and uncontrolled situation.  Now, before I go on, of course I recognize that that type of situation still exists and that there are many talented individuals that still pitch and provide great results for their clients.  However, with the advancement of the internet, the ubiquity of an internet connection from the PC to the cell phone and new gadgets such as the iPod and the iPad, a new channel to reach audiences has emerged.

It is this new channel, via the internet, that has ushered in the winds of change for the PR profession.  Certainly, many have dealt with the client’s website, and added outreach efforts such as e-newsletters, and promotional e-mails for campaigns.  But today, with the plethora of digital devices that allow consumers to easily download & tap into content, new avenues have emerged that allow us to directly distribute unique audio and video content that tells our stories.

In the process, PR professionals have gone through the shift from pitching & booking to creating & producing.  The result is that our industry has become revitalized & exciting new opportunities have presented themselves to help tell our stories and reach niche markets.  From iTunes, to YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, PR pros are the ones that are navigating the new online space and making sense of it for organizations and their initiatives.

Both leading up to, and of course, after Apple’s January 27th iPad announcement the interwebs were, and have been, a buzz about the tablet device that will now debut in less than a week.  It’s certainly been an interesting development to observe, and follow, as the implications could potentially run far and wide - both for the computing industry, as well as those in the content creation business.

Personally, I think the iPad taps into the power of the iPhone platform but serves it up in an even more tangible size and for that matter a size that will likely in time become more palatable to a wider breath of audiences.  The iPad unlike the iPhone will have no expensive cellular contract or service usage agreements, it will simply work on any WiFi connection, or those users that wish can opt in to a month-to-month data service with AT&T.  In terms of the interaction, since the web’s introduction it has been a point & click type of world, but the iPad will change that it, and it will morph into a hands-on environment.  We’ll be able to look past the device and become fully consumed with our music, movies, and of course text-based content - or more poignantly those delineations are going to continue to become harder to make.  We’ll see magazines with embeded Podcasts, and electronic books that offer videos about their subject matter, and newspapers that will strike us more as the local television channel than the traditional paper.

In the process, this iPad-ization of content is going to further drive consumption, alter the media landscape, and change the dynamics of how we navigate and interact with this mass of content that is now before us on the internet.  This change is also going to have a profound effect on how, and where, ad dollars are spent…adding bonafide and beautiful digital versions to popular publications such as Wired, ESPN The Magazine, GQ among others.  Already, there has been some discussion as to the number of adverstisers that have signed on with the likes of Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal to take out full-page ads in the upcoming digital editions.  So, effectively what this means is that advertisers will now have a broader spectrum to choose from when building their marketing mix; now the options will include outdoor & event-based, traditional broadcast & print (national, regional, & local), web (banner & text), and now graphical digital editions of mainstream publications.

Beyond advertising, more importantly for communications professionals this move toward tablet computing continues to break down the traditional barriers to sharing and distributing a story, a spokesperson, or a campaign message.  Further, as the computer shifts from weighty laptop or stagnant desktop, the power shift for content distribution and consumption continues as platforms like the iPad will make accessing content easier, more intimate, and ubiquitous.  The iPad and its successors will ultimately become yet another powerful avenue for our clients to consider when planning their campaigns, to target their message and showcase their unique content. For instance, this is an avenue whereby a client can develop and publish an App that showcases their brand and messaging, or simply develop their own unique audio and video content that the consumer can access from their device.

Of course, as this trend continues we’ll be monitoring it here at The Media Backpage.  The question, however that remains, is how will you leverage The iPadization of Content for your clients?

Over the past year, as a Nation we have witnessed a financial meltdown, which has been unlike any other series of events that many of us have lived through. Millions have lost jobs, and confidence in the market has eroded. Certainly, it is normal for the market to have fluctuations and for corrections to take place from time to time, but the last year was beyond what anyone including the “experts” had envisioned. The repercussions from these recent events run deep and have impacted millions; leaving many wondering what tomorrow will bring.

As organizations look to the future and to moving forward beyond the financial crisis, and as markets strengthen and projects move forward, perhaps the most important component to the recovery is Communications. I do not write that flippantly, nor because it is the arena in which you or I practice. Instead, in order to get our Nation back to work, and to ease everyone’s concerns we must leverage the opportunities before us in today’s new media landscape to openly and honestly communicate and share the direction that our organizations and clients envision. Whether that means sharing notes and information via today’s social media tools such as Twitter, or Facebook, or doing a periodic Podcast interview with members of the C-Suite, or doing a media tour to promote events and campaigns.

Utilizing these tools affords us the opportunity to share where our organizations (and our client’s) are heading with both internal and external audiences. Further, sharing our message will help to ease people’s fears, and instill confidence in the greater business environment and to our customers.

While the news these days is often about the high unemployment rate and the many negative aspects to today’s economy, despite those headlines, there are millions upon millions of hard working people heading to their jobs every day. They are our colleagues in research and development, customer service, shipping & management and collectively they are doing great things and helping their organizations move forward. As for us, as communicators, PR flacks, & marketers it is our role to shine the light on the positive stories and demonstrate to our communities both locally, domestically, and abroad that we are holding our heads up high and moving the economy forward.

MediaBack Page’s Quick Hits for April 24th :

• AOL's New Plan: Content, Content, Content - BusinessWeek - Content Is Always King.

MediaBack Page’s Quick Hits for March 23rd :

• The Associated Press: Adam Carolla goes from canceled to podcast king -
• How the iPhone 3.0 Will Create a New Mobile Economy -
• Social Media Marketing Budgets on the Rise -
• Newspapers fold as readers defect and economy sours - CNN.com -

MediaBack Page’s Quick Hits for March 9th :

• iTunes Celebrity Playlist Become Podcasts…with Tom Jones | Cult of Mac - Looks like iTunes has taken the next step with their “celebrity playlists” and brought them to life with a new Podcast series… at the very least this provides a unique way to gain some perspective on music maybe you haven’t thought about previously, and offers a chance to get some insight from your favorite artists…
• Column: Spinning the Web on the TV Set - TVWeek - News - TV Shows on the Web on the TV, it’s the next reality.
• Seattle paper may shift to online-only: reports - The newspaper business continues to be hit hard, in a sense more of the same that sent The Rocky packing a few weeks ago.
• NBC Is Buoyed by a Matrix of Winners - NYTimes.com - In a time of increasingly diverse audience segments - can an hour long news cast survive? Or does it in fact help the network to reach an even broader audience and extend its brand?