When Traditional & Social Media Collide – A Lesson From John Byrne

Author: Matt

5 May

Back in February I wrote a post entitled Is it Too Late for Traditional Newspapers? – Like many, I believe innovation and adoption of social media and online components will be the downfall of these traditional newspapers.

Today many people continue to ask me why we are now playing in the “social media” space when our firm has been focused on traditional media relations. I always think I have a good answer for such a question, “because as traditional media evolves, organizations will have the unique ability to reach their targeted audiences without using the media as their mouthpiece.” I’ve since realized that this response fails to answer the full picture about why we are involved with social media – because many of these traditional journalists are also playing in this space.

Many others have recently weighed in on this topic including the story yesterday by @woodylewis on Mashable (@mashable) entitled, “5 Ways Traditional Media is Going Social.”

John_byrne_148x200 BusinessWeek logo

What I like most about Woody’s story is how he talks about the successful approach that John Byrne (@johnabyrne), editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek Online has had leveraging his Twitter profile. In fact, his post “What’s Your News Story Idea” John gives readers a chance to share and submit their story ideas to John and a number of other BusinessWeek editors. This looks great on the surface, but from what I’ve seen, John is truly delivering on this promise since April…2008!

Another great example of the traditional media’s use of social media would be the wiki that PR & social media expert Sarah Evans (@PRSarahEvans) put together called MediaOnTwitter listing out all of the journalists and media outlets currently on Twitter. I love this list and often forward to any PR or marketing colleague who doubts why they should be using Twitter. Not to be pitching per se as John suggests, but to be interacting with these influential journalists and to be reading their respective outlets.

What are some examples you’ve seen of traditional and social media blending together? And to Woody’s point, do you believe his closing comments, “When the economy recovers, those brands that have survived by innovating should benefit from the social media tools they’ve put in place.”? I do.

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Filed under: Media Relations, Social Media

6 Responses for "When Traditional & Social Media Collide – A Lesson From John Byrne"

KatrinaME May 5th, 2009 at 1:21 pm 1
Matt,

I think this is a good way for traditional media relations people to look at social media.

Our objective is still the same (ultimately to help generate and maintain the good will of our clients). However, the channels through which we do this have expanded. And really, that’s ok.

Remember when encyclopedias were sold door-to-door? I don’t. But I could probably find out from an encyclopedia online. Encyclopedias are still available and they still perform the same function and they can still be sold door-to-door. But now we can access them in multiple formats that continue to change and improve.

Such is true with the way people connect. And that changes the way media relations people connect with their audiences and build (yep) relationships. Call. Write. Tweet. Text. Just deliver the message.
Rachel Kay May 5th, 2009 at 5:16 pm 2
Matt- I love this post for a number of reasons, one being that you highlighted John Byrne, who is one of my favorite media people to connect with on Twitter. Unfortunately a lot of media feel slighted that a great number of their Twitter followers are PR people like us. I have long stood by the fact that I got into this business due to a passion for the news and I follow reporters to keep close tabs on what they are writing about and what makes them tick. John recognizes me as both a reader and a PR person, which I appreciate.

There are many examples of traditional journalists using social media, Twitter in particular, giving consumers and press people the chance to connect with them in a much more personal and genuine way. A lot of them take the time to chat with us on the Journchat chat on Twitter started by Sarah Evans as well. Many also have blogs and welcome our feedback and respond to us there through comments. It’s a huge benefit for everyone, because social media provides such a heightened opportunity for conversation.
Mark Palony May 6th, 2009 at 5:53 am 3
Matt – Excellent post. Your answer to the question of why we are in the social media space got me thinking. The evolution of media does demand that social media be part of the mix, but we should also be aware that what we now call social media will one day be known as traditional media. Simply put, if we fail to understand how the market is accessing and consuming information, then we fail to serve our clients.
Danny Brown May 6th, 2009 at 6:01 am 4
It never fails to amaze me when people continuously talk about the “death” of media (just an FYI, I’m not putting you in this bracket, Matt).

So much similar talk has been said for years on other mediums – vinyl, video cassettes, radio, etc.

The thing is, media by its very nature is adaptable. Much like anything – there’s very little that is set in stone.

So, the thing people should be looking at is the users of the medium, not the medium itself.

If something is dying or struggling, is it really its fault or the proponents of it? Usually it’s the latter, and they’re the ones that need to adapt new mindsets.

Great examples of that here – but they’re still a relativly small amount. Here’s to more seeing the light.
David Mullen May 6th, 2009 at 12:13 pm 5
One obvious way they’ve blended was mentioned here – traditional journalists who are extending/migrating their presence and work online. Here’s a micro example of how that’s beneficial to PR people…

We were working with a BusinessWeek reporter this past summer on a story. We reached out to him with the pitch and he was interested. The problem is that the opportunity to write the story was cut by his editor. But, the reporter also blogs for BusinessWeek. So he wrote a post on the story. Instead of missing out on an opportunity altogether, our client still had its story featured. Sure, it wasn’t in the print edition. But the online version lives forever and is searchable by Google. Some may argue that’s as good, if not better.

Traditional media won’t evaporate into nothingness. It will still be around, though the landscape will look different. What’s happening is evolution. For the record, it’s happened before. And, I’m guessing it will happen again.
Costa DeVault » Blog Archive » BusinessWeek Talks Social Media June 1st, 2009 at 8:53 am 6
[...] editor-in-chief John Byrne’s Twitter account is often cited as an example of a traditional media person getting and embracing social media. (He is one of 30+ tweeting BusinessWeek [...]