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.

Where the hell do we go now?

Grim piece in the Guardian on regional journalism today. Raises at least two major issues for PR.

First the need to build relationships directly with stakeholders which does not involve the media as in some areas there may not be a local media which carries the authority and credibility which it once had. This is something which PR has been doing for some time and moving away from a media relations model but the pressure is on to develop this faster.

Second it is going to require a high (higher?) ethical code for PR, as for example some local authority PROs might be operating in areas where there is no longer a strong independent media to act as a counterbalance and to hold the council and local authority to task. Will the gap be filled by newer, leaner media operations entirely based on the web? Or will the local authority PRO have to build much stronger links and relationships both online and offline with local citizens so that new forms of checks and balances are created? Certainly Habermas' public space looks under threat at least at least at the local level.