2011 News Media: You got your news from what!?

By Matter

As a newbie to the PR world, I’m learning something new every day. The same could be said, however, for the PR world itself. The other day, Mashable.com featured a piece called “10 Predictions for the News Media in 2011”, which discussed predictions about the manner in which people will gather news in the year 2011 (from smartphones, iPads, etc.). While this article touched on some of what I have already learned since starting at Matter, it baffled me nonetheless. It also serves as a great continuation of my colleague Lauren’s post about effective PR news tools, as it highlighted the up and coming channels for news media – forcing PR professionals to keep up.

As technology advances, people are getting their news from all different kinds of sources – Mashable lists social media, interactive television and mobile devices just to name a few. We no longer live in a simple print, television or radio world, and it’s our jobs as PR professionals to get the news out to whoever wants it and from whatever source they want it from. Taking a step back to look at how far social media networks have progressed in such a short period of time, it is amazing to think where it will go next!

Mashable predicts that location-based news (news driven/delivered to your phone based on where you are geographically) will pick up from the small percentage that uses it now – about 4% today. As one of the last people without a smart phone (Mom: if you’re reading this, I’d like a Droid please!), I haven’t experienced the news or social media apps that come along with this new industry. Luckily, my colleagues show me all of their news forums listed on their phones, along with all of their social media platforms – all on just one of seven screens that their phone allows. What!? In a quick poll around the office, it seems that Twitter and specific news sites (AP, CNN, etc.) are the most popular ways my colleagues get their news on the go.

With new media opportunities on the horizon, there seems to be no limit to where news will be available. What’s your favorite way to get your news, or what do you hope to see in 2011?