Perhaps it’s no coincidence that in the past month I have been pitched to no less than three times (two directly, one indirectly) to purchase print advertisements. One I deliberately ignored twice (sorry, New York Times), the other was a fruitless hour and half leaving me with an empty heart; not because the ROI on such a tactic would be minimal at best, but more because the media outlet in question (not the NYT) snubbed my excitement about trying to discuss emerging possibilities for new media and journalism. 

Instead, the publication wanted cash for print ads, obviously on a campaign to attempt to salvage some remnant of print journalism. Oddly, this particular media outlet might succeed for reasons I won’t go into here. And I truly wish it well.

The broader unstated dynamic, however, is that there are print models out there doing quite well, and other “news” outlets continue to see noted success (NPR, “The Daily Show,” The Onion, etc.), fulfilling the niche of information dissemination that print news is less and less able to do successfully.

Because of this, now is the time to stop bemoaning the shrinkage and loss of newspapers. Smart journalists and publishers will adapt to these changes. A part of that transformation is going to HAVE to be a change of mind. Specifically, there will need to be a reexamination of the very foundation of journalism, such as abandoning the notion that news reporting should continue to be a one-way form of communication, one that serves an inherently more noble function than, say, what occurs in blogs.

The point that journalism is more critical in light of increased information overload — whether valid or not — is a view old-guard journalists still cling to fervently, particularly the assumption that there is an inherent importance in what they do. Or did. That “importance,” in light of democratized, user-generated content, now translates into self-importance — a tough sell.

No longer can we ignore the fact that the very nature of communication is multi-faceted, occurs in countless channels and is not resting on the laurels of trained news gathering. It’s not that news journalism is dead, it’s that the model of news journalism is being decimated left and right.

Getting upset at this reality is a bit like getting mad because the wind is blowing. It’s time to create and seize new opportunities, wherever they emerge.

Although the news journalism model is dying, the rise of nonsense by the masses is exacerbated by the untrained and ordinary. Should true experts be concerned, one possible next step is to once and for all begin to define what constitutes valuable information — and the sources thereof.

* * *

Part of pursuing opportunities is diligently using new, social media. I attended the PRSA Reno Chapter’s luncheon yesterday where my friend Ryan Jerz presented on using social media. While geared toward PR professionals, Jerz’s discussion should have been mandatory for news journalists.

One critical statement he made is that successful organizations will already have critical information online and published before a news story even appears about such information. Jerz also nailed what I consider to be the most salient points regarding the use of social media:

1. Don’t start what you can’t continue. In other words, using social media just because it is there to use will have negative, unintended consequences — namely, time wasting — if you do not have a specific goal in mind and the appropriate resources to support that goal.
2. Use what works. Jerz specifically mentioned Flickr for images, Youtube for video, Facebook for social networking and Twitter for quick updates.
3. Recognize limitations. Social media is part of a mix, not THE means to an end. Also, placing a level of seriousness on it (Jerz Twitters mostly “for fun”) in many cases is likely a wishful, self-serving exercise.

While I’m no doubt paraphrasing what Jerz said, and probably putting some words in his mouth, these three points to me are the most critical in pointing out both the reasonable — and in many cases, necessary — uses of social media.