The Full Spectrum Blog

After more than a dozen years producing for a network newsmagazine, I thought I knew what made for a good story. When I first started, the standards were high. Celebrities being profiled needed to be the likes of Katharine Hepburn--someone with a fifty-year career and a few Academy Awards.

Over the last few years, though, the world of television news has changed drastically. Satellite, cable and TiVo provide hundreds of channels, a variety that allows people to watch whatever they want, whenever they want. The internet too has dampened the networks' reach. Why wait to watch the evening news when you can get the information straight across your computer screen two minutes after it happens?

That's why it's not surprising that the TV newsmagazines today are not only changing, but shrinking. NBC is laying off hundreds, mostly in their news department. All three networks have cut their newsmagazine staffs. But perhaps the biggest change is in the shows themselves. The stories that get on the air now are more dramatic, more sensational than ever before. To get on the air now, a celebrity doesn't have to have decades of experience -- only some scandal or sex appeal that can brings in the ratings and the right 18-34 year-old demographics.

The rules of what makes good television is changing--and it may not be changing for the better. Some say it is the beginning of the end of network news. I hope not.

Miriam W.
Public Relations Consultant

Twelve years ago, I scored my first national media "hit" with a story that appeared in the USA Today. Champagne and flowers were sent to me by my boss and congratulatory remarks were overflowing. It was time for me to go home - my job was done. What happened to that story the next day? Not much ... it was clipped, distributed to key audiences and mounted on my wall.

Times are changing. In just the past five years or so, the PR industry has seen a shift in the origins and potential lifespan of a story or message. A single reporter in a major publication may not be the sole destination of our efforts.

As newspapers are shifting resources to online efforts, we too must learn to adapt to the notion that the Internet is not a single distribution channel, but a layered landscape containing many, potentially effective distribution channels.

We can see these channels in action numerous ways:

1. The Internet serves as a catalyst for news - Think of a YouTube video of a notable person's faux pas and how it exponentially spreads online and ultimately ends up on the "traditional" news outlets.
2. The lifespan of all content and messaging is extended, potentially infinitely, through simple mechanisms we already take for granted online, searchable archives.

These are just a couple of examples illustrating the point that as communications professionals, we need to be aware of as many of the online and offline channels and how it can spread. We can't always control how the story starts, where it spreads and what its potential lifespan is.

The "new" internet (Web 2.0) is about networked content and social interaction. If we're not aware and comfortable inside these new channels, we could find ourselves deep inside a hole we are unable to climb out of. While the Internet is constantly maturing and evolving, we can no longer ignore that it features a new breed of opinion leaders, relevant events and discussions and an efficient means of content distribution.

Pam L.
Public Relations