Will the Recession Help Media Restructure?
December 8th, 2008 by Tom Francoeur
AdAge ran an interesting article this week that indicates the recent spate of media company lay-offs due to the recession is also a sign that the media industry is doing something it should have done long ago –restructuring and retooling for a 21st century economy. Comparisons are made to the current auto-industry woes.
As a PR pro, it has been disheartening to say the least as Folio Magazine runs daily news alerts about the latest media company lay-offs and cut backs. I had updates on my Twitter feed coming from TheMediaisDying, but couldn’t take the bad news anymore, so stopped following.
Mediapost editor Dianne Mermigas also just published an editorial – Media: Don’t Cut Jobs, But Bad Biz Model. What are your thoughts about this latest media shakeout? What will be the challenges and opportunities in 2009?
This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Media Relations, News & Commentary, PR, Predictions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I’ve also been disheartened by the news-within-the-news… after hearing NPR report on its own layoffs, I had to put on upbeat pop to get my mood right again! Some of the editors with whom I had a fantastic working relationship have been cut, and I have more than a touch of survivor’s guilt over it.
Thanks for the link; I do hope that business models change to accommodate. There are only so many beats a single person can cover after half of their department is pink-slipped!
December 16th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Thanks for commenting Liz. One thought I’ve had lately is that as we go through another wave of media shake out, the immediate reaction – beyond commisseration for the media professionals – is to think that PR gets harder. That’s true, but there can also be more opportunities. Bare bones media staffing means more reliance on PR to deliver valuable content and to be a better resource. Also, PR continues to evolve from a core focus on pitching and media outreach to taking the extra step to distribute news ready content that editors can pick up and quickly incorporate into their articles. In many ways, we’re helping our clients become self-publishers, especially with blogs, podcasts, online communities and the growing use of social media.