The Information Will Find A Venue

The sun is setting on some classic forms of communication that many people know and love. Newspapers are slimmer, analog TV is off the air and much radio programming is over-packaged, rinsed and repeated. While old-style media is losing its role to younger online upstarts, some elements of its legacy may help us to use new online communication tools more successfully. Specifically, consider: 1) The ease with which we access and use old fashioned newspapers and TV; and 2) Old fashioned media's ability to provide value-added interpretation and context of the news we receive.  

Ease of Access and Use

Old Media offers a simplicity that makes its message  accessible to consumers without any training.  Simply, pick up the newspaper or turn on the radio and roll your thumb along the tuning dial to discover what is happening in the world.   Although online communication tools have become richer and more interactive, and consumers have become more tech-savvy, the need for easy access has not gone away.  Simplicity, however, has become more complex.  Our sense about what is intuitive, convenient and comfortable depends upon many factors such as the audience's available time, geography, lifestyle, level of education and so on.  Therefore, it is not surprising that the tools and techniques used for communicating with 20-somthings today, for example, might need to differ from those used by their parents and grandparents. A good needs analysis, including some audience research and use cases, will help in determining which communication tools to adopt and which to avoid.

Interpretation of Content

In bygone days, traditional media has served as a relevance filter, zeroing-in on important content and prioritizing it for the masses. Though we can now choose to receive whatever content we personally value, there are still times that most of us would benefit from additional context, interpretation or at least another perspective.   But with the revenues of print and broadcast media outlets diminishing, these organizations have fewer resources to help us make sense of the news even as its volume increases.  The centralized approach to reporting and dissemination is no longer sustainable.  In a more distributed (some might say chaotic) system, that is emerging now, both grass roots and more top-down approaches are being used to decipher clouds of information and ideas that swirl around our world each day.  Associations, nonprofits, private enterprise and government organizations can play a responsible role in aggregating the wisdom of the crowds with that of insider expertise to provide context and draw conclusions of value to the communities they serve.  This collective process for acquiring news and delivering insights depends upon the new types of communication and information management tools that have been emerging over the past 10-20 years.

While empowering, the newly developing system of collaborative media is more complex than in the days of old media.  Your organization's choice of communication tools and techniques will affect its ability to fulfill its role as a facilitator, or enabler, of the process.  To implement successful solutions, consider creating an online media plan that helps you to develop focused approach, identify relevant tools and measure your results — given your communication goals, audience and available resources.