New Media Aren’t So New Anymore
As if we needed further evidence of the communications sea-change taking place before our very eyes, ABC executives announced today that they have created a new viewership measurement tool – demonstrating just how seriously they’re taking marketer concerns over the long-term effectiveness of TV advertising in an age of decreasing broadcast audiences. According to Nielsen, prime time viewers have dropped by six million in just the last year.
The move is consistent with recent reports that illustrate the force with which new media are relegating traditional media to silent film status.
Last month, Newsweek bought out 20% of its staff as it seeks to better serve a 21st Century audience.
In March, it was reported that circulation at top newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The Dallas Morning News, had fallen by 3.9%, 3.6%, 4.4%, and 10.6% over the just the previous six months, respectively. Over the last ten years, readership has declined by 10% across the board.
And in February, a blogger became the first online-only journalist to receive a coveted Polk Award for legal reporting.
Even the National Press Club has established its own blog and is actively recruiting bloggers for membership – only 10 years after Matt Drudge’s speech in its own hallowed halls was characterized by some traditional journalists as “amateur hour.”
It seems that the amateurs are leveling the playing field – and closing a credibility gap that once defined cyberspace as the realm of kooks and conspiracy theorists.
Today, bloggers break stories and drive traditional coverage, viral videos spread perceptions with just a click of the mouse, and search engine rankings decide whose messages are heard and whose are largely ignored.
Today, new media is media. And traditional communicators would be wise to treat it as such.
