Today’s post is the third in our series introduced in January on Bateman Banter called The New J-School in which we examine the evolving nature of journalism in today’s digital age.

Tom Foremski, publisher of Silicon Valley Watcher, recently posted this interesting piece entitled MediaWatch: Journalists Won’t Report News Unless It Can Drive Page Views, which was based on a recent panel moderated by well-known media watcher Sam Whitmore. Tom pulls out this excerpt from the conversation:

“It’s now a luxury for a reporter to write a story about an obscure, but important topic. That used to be a job requirement. Now it’s a career risk. Example: let’s say an interesting startup has a new and different idea. Many reporters now won’t touch it because (a) the story won’t generate page views, and (b) few people search on terms germane to that startup. Potential SEO performance is now a key factor in what gets assigned.

Two reporters from two different publications this month both told us the same thing: if you want to write a story on an interesting but obscure topic, you had better feed the beast by writing a second story about the iPad or Facebook or something else that delivers page views and good SEO.”

Tom summarizes:
“Page view journalism also means that smaller companies will be crowded out by their larger competitors. And with the current media tsunami out there, if you aren’t seen by your potential customers, you don’t exist.”

As we have several start-ups on our client roster, we have experienced first-hand the impact of the changing landscape of the media and page view-driven journalism. Getting coverage for an unknown brand has always been challenging, even with existing media relationships, but the economics of online journalism has changed the game a bit. And I get it ─ we are a generation of headline and excerpt readers, and news outlets are fighting for our eyeballs. Literally, fighting. The frenzy created around announcements from various news outlets that they would be breaking embargoes is an indication that the gloves are off.

If any of you follow journalists on Twitter, you will see them vigorously promoting their own content. Personally, this feels a bit sad to me, like companies begging people to come into their booth at a tradeshow, luring them in with sticky Jolly Ranchers or USB drives shaped like hands. I understand it has to be done. Tom points out that journalists are just following their management’s direction: “It’s not the journalists who are at fault, it is their management, and their management is merely following the actual economics of online journalism.”

We certainly try and help out, employing various tactics to promote our client’s coverage, but I agree with Tom in thinking that this model is not sustainable for media properties. And frankly, it’s also boring. Combing through various online publications, I’m hard pressed to find an article not written about the iPad, Facebook or Twitter. Interesting topics, sure, but not interesting enough to read about their every move, every day.  I look to the media to give me a new perspective on current events, or help me discover a company/service/product that can somehow enhance my experience.  If we make a comparison to the consumer world, I don’t want to read about Nobu or Shake Weights every day. Sure, they are cool, but everyone goes there/uses them (or wants to!), and I would rather discover hidden treasures like the new brick oven pizza place that opened in my neighborhood, or a magical tool that can help me get more sleep while raising a newborn.

So how can we change this? We’ve talked about the corporate blog as a platform for thought leadership. More and more companies are investing in their own blogs as a place to share their perspective on the industry. Also, as Tom mentions, media outlets will need to get more creative with their revenue-generating activities: “Multi-revenues means incorporating lead generation, affiliate marketing, custom advertising packages, virtual currencies, and more.”

Call me old school, but I still believe that if your client is solving a problem in the market in a unique, differentiated way, you should be able to secure your client press. Not in a gimmicky, “we shot our CEO out of a cannon” type of way, but in the thoughtful approach that PR practitioners have used since Edward Bernays opened the first PR shop in 1919 and pioneered the use of “third party authorities” to plead his clients’ causes.

To do this, you need to think like a journalist and make sure you have pulled together a compelling and supported story. This underscores the importance of having all of your “tools” in place: legitimately tying your story to a current trend or news event; having customer references that can speak to how a certain technology has impacted their business; hard data to support your angle; accessible spokespeople able to speak freely about the topic; third party references that can comment on the industry as a whole; etc.