Friday, 22 August 2014

Is the media release dead in the age of social media?

Hey Guys
 
Welcome again in my second blog. And you know what?!, I am not so nervous this time around, I'm enjoying this blogging thing, it feels so nice to just share with people what on my mind and also to listen to what you guys have to say about the discussed topics on your comments. Hope that you are also enjoying. Let look at our second topic: 
 "Is  the media release dead in the age of social media?".

 
 

what is a media release?  
www.google.com

A media release , also known as news/press release, is a written document designed to deliver a newsworthy message to the media. It is the most effective way of proving information to media outlets about your event, issue or program. The purpose of a media release is to gain the interests of media outlet and  provide them with the angle of how to position the story. In addition,  a media release is n opportunity to tell your organizations' story with credibility of you own proactive authority and voice.

 

Digital media release 

 
 

www.google.com
 
So, I really do not think that the media release is dead in the age of social media. Public Relations Practitioners are moving with technology and make it point that they get involve and interact with the public via social media channels.  Therefore, PRPs have created a digital media release specially designed for social media networks. This does not change the function, facts and newsworthy of the media release, but it has changed the formatting, which may includes multimedia, news website, search engine optimization and relevant links to useful resources that the intended public may use. Although, the content needs to be short and simple in order to share with the social media networks.


 

New Technology 
www.google.com


 

Now, you see, with the new technology  of social media you do not have to stress yourself and think that you won't make it, all you have to do is to adapt to the system and go with the flow, it as simple as that, social media accommodate everyone. You just need to find the good social media platforms for your profession. The digital media release is make it easy for the PRPs to distribute the organisation information to various target publics, it also saves time and money. It has become a more useful tool for information dissemination. So, it not dead at all, but instead its transforming and becoming more and more useful.

In addition, PRPs has also introduced a social media release that makes it possible to even includes multimedia and rich information. This social media release can be shared within the social media networks with different targeted audiences.

So, you see that social media it here to make simplify our lives and make our jobs much easier. We should use social media to out advantage.

Now, let me hear from you, what you think of this topic?! 

 






21 comments:

  1. i agree with you Ivy-Kate the press release is not dead, in fact it is flexible and can be transformed to suit in the age of social media by converting it to digital press release. by the way nice post!

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  2. Thank you Isaac, you know, we can not afford to just destroy some of our useful and important tools that are effective for our organisations just because of the social media. It better to find possible ways to improve and also catch up with time. Social media it not here to destroy our jobs but rather to transform us and make us more interactive and engage more with our target publics.

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  3. So true, upgrading the traditional news release to digital was a very wise move. It shows that PR is moving with time and realize the importance of both the social media technology and the importance of news releases. It has even made this very easy for PRPs to deliver easy and cheaper. Well said Ivy-Kate

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    1. Thank you Buhle, and you the social media it just here to make our jobs much easier and manageable at the same time. It also allows us to know what exactly our target public want, social media gives us a platform to engage in conversations with our clients and get to understand them even better.

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  4. I strongly disagree with you guys, news release are very much dead due to the introduction of social media as a very consistent medium of communication nowadays.

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    1. I am not so sure whether you have done you research properly or what, but I can say is that the media released has been transformed to digital media release which is designed specifically for social media networks and it still serving the best purpose of disseminating the organisation's information. It is no longer called ''media release" alone, but it a "digital media release".

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  5. Wow Kate your on point,well said, understandable, Eish you just simplified it, surely girl you know what your doing, I dnt have nothing much to say but allow me to say ( uyimbokondo) you are the one of the most best woman in this society. Big up. I like your blog

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  6. Thank you so much Mr Mdluli. It is part of our job as PRPs to know and understand our environment. If social media it the place to be, then we are also going to be part of it continuing to excel in what we do for our organisation to achieve its main goals.

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  7. I totally agree with you Ivy-kate because even though we are now leaving in the social media era, most companies are still relying on media release especially the digital one. Big up Ivy-Kate! i really enjoyed reading your blog

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  8. Thank you Fiona, you see, social media it not here just to destroy our lives and jobs, but it here to boost our involvement and engagement with our target publics and also to improve our organisations reputation. It helps us to know exactly what our target publics talking about and that just give us ways of interacting with them trying to give them what they want not what we want as an organisation.

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  9. Beautifully written Ivy well done i really enjoyed reading you blog i agree with the topic and i scooped up some interesting points there.

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    1. Thank you Abongile, we as public relations practitioners we need to take advantage of this social media networks. Since a media release is an essential tool for our organisation to tell of its products and services, we can not just destroy it but we find ways of fitting it to the new system of social media networks where most of our targeted public are.

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  10. There’s been a lot of talk recently about whether media releases are still relevant or not.

    I have read many articles and blogs on the topic at-hand. It is then said in most which I have read that; media releases are often the first thing that comes to mind when one discusses public relations.

    They are not dead. I definitely agree with you!

    However, it is best for companies/organizations to first start thinking of whether a media release is really a best fit to their publicity strategy. That’s important!

    For that reason, before they start going about writing a media releases, they should stop and think about what they want to achieve. Which publication do they want to be covered in? Who is their intended audience? What story do they want to tell? Then decide whether a media release is their right way to go.

    I therefore don’t think the issue here should be whether are media releases dead or not. But rather, it should be whether companies are making the best out of media releases or not?

    You should start thinking about that as well. NICE BLOG KATE!!! :)

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    1. Thank you for your comment Thabiso, I really get what you are saying, and that what exactly public relation practitioner are doing at the moment. We only consider information that is best for our target publics, we engage in conversations with the public though the social media network and get what our targeted public are interested in, it is then where we decide what we are going to put in the digital media release. We consider most the opinions of our targeted publics, like what they would like to know about our company's product and services. In that way, I can safely say yes, we are making the best out of this media releases. I thank you so much for your comment.

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  11. This is so great and informative. Job well done.

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    1. Thank you Nkosazana hope that you have also learnt something out this topic that we as PRPs we are moving with technology and try our best to always represent our companies in the best way we can in the public eye.

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  12. Thank you for your comment Thabiso, I really get what you are saying, and that what exactly public relation practitioner are doing at the moment. We only consider information that is best for our target publics, we engage in conversations with the public though the social media network and get what our targeted public are interested in, it is then where we decide what we are going to put in the digital media release. We consider most the opinions of our targeted publics, like what they would like to know about our company's product and services. In that way, I can safely say yes, we are making the best out of this media releases. I thank you so much for your comment.

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  13. Nice and informative blog and as PRP'S we should move with the times and focus on digital media because we no longer really use traditional media as much

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    1. Thank you Thembeka, and were you aware that there's also social media releases that can be shared within the different social media networks for different audiences. It just makes it easy to get the rich information of the company.

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  14. Nice blog Ms Malwa, social media really make our lives very easier, we get news very fast, we are up-to-date with what is happening around here. and as for PRP we/they are moving with technology indeed

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    1. True that Ms Mangena and now even must better with the social media release that help us to share the information in different social media for different audience.

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