Friday 17 July 2009

Every company is a media company


























I have recently had a trawl through the news related applications on iPhone and downloaded a number of these to try them out. It is interesting to note that a number of US government organisations have developed applications for the iPhone at a minimal cost (99 cents) and one of these is for the CIA.

What struck me looking at my iPhone this morning is that alongside the Financial Times icon, Sky, Daily Telegraph, BBC (why has the Guardian not created one?) etc on my iPhone, now sits an icon for the CIA - but it could be BP, University of Greenwich or any organisation which I have a relationship with or interest in. Somehow the iPhone screens and collective icons - all of the same size - bring home the point made by various commentators including Andrew Heyward and Richard Edelman that all companies are now media companies and content producers in the social media environment. This of course raises major challenges and opportunities for PR as credible "content producers" for organisations. But perhaps this process can be seen as a necessary development for organisations as they seek to develop new more direct channels of communication and dialogue with stakeholders as traditional media fragments.