MEDIA2011 EXPECTATIONS

2011: NOW TRENDING Online ad revenue for mainstream media publications will begin to

rebound, helping to stem the hemorrhaging of their parent print

publications. But the rebound won’t be enough to ease the pain,

leading to continued downsizing in the industry. The downsizing

will particularly affect the ability of mainstream publications to

retain top-end talent.

AOL Patch will continue its rapid expansion. Print publishers and

local TV news producers will continue to try to figure out a way to

monetize narrowly focused community news, and will search for

creative business models to do so.

The continued pressure to keep up with technology will push

organizations to move from the model of reporters as content

creators to bloggers who are content aggregators. Increasingly,

journalists will rely on second- and third-hand, often non-verifi-

able information, rather than personal, verifiable sources and

information, blurring the lines between content creators

and aggregators.

The rise of the personally branded journalist will intensify in the

coming years. The best journalists will not just be those who

produce the best content, but those who draw the most eyeballs

through self-marketing via social media.

The media demigods will watch but not follow Rupert Murdoch’s

lead in putting content behind paywalls. While The Financial Times

and The Wall Street Journal have had success with the model,

most publishers will conclude that this works only with specialized

content targeted at affluent audiences.

CORPORATE IMPLICATIONSTo navigate the complicated media landscape, communications

agencies will need to modernize their staff with special digital

training and boost specialty units or divisions of digital strategists.

Companies will need to see PR and marketing as key competen-

cies, with hard metrics that can be measured through various

digital applications.

As communications strategies become increasingly more sophisti-

cated, PR professionals will need to integrate social media

strategies directly into overall strategies. The new landscape

will necessitate a realignment in PR target opportunities, given the

vastly broadening array of influencers. Economic pressures and

expansion in media bandwidth/coverage space will produce an

increasing number of creative mergers and shotgun marriages

and a reinvention of the medium in 2011. That will result in

multiple platforms per outlet. An understanding of outlet

reach and new ranking in the media firmament will be key to

communicate to clients.

Terry Neal, senior vice president & director strategic media in H&K’s

corporate practice, spent most of his career as a journalist, including more

than a decade as a political reporter and editor at The Washington Post.

He is based in Washington, DC.

Terry NealSenior Vice Presidentterry.neal@hillandknowlton.com

MEDIA | 2011 EXPECTATIONS