Feast on This: New Media Adds a Fresh Taste for Modern PR Strategies
Traditional media is still the bread and butter of public relations. But it’s no longer the only item on the menu. Offleash VP of Integrated Marketing Kelly Indrieri wrote about the importance of adding alternative media—like B2B influencer marketing—to your communications strategy. And it’s become abundantly clear that we now need to make room on the table for a tasty little dish called “new media.”
But what is it?
Like many things, the definition of new media is subjective. But, at Offleash, we don’t like to complicate things. We think of new media as unique trends in information dissemination that are already picking up speed, or have the seemingly undeniable potential to take off.
Here are a few examples to wet your whistle for this exciting new fare:
Podcasts
Old news, right? Wrong. Podcasts are the news. One could argue President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris launched podcasts into an entirely new stratum after joining “The Joe Rogan Experience” and “Call Her Daddy” respectively during the 2024 presidential election. But even before those bombshell interviews took place, Statista reported that more than half of the U.S. population (ages 12-55) listens to podcasts on a monthly basis, and podcasting is expected to grow 48% from 2024 to 2029.
Subscription-based Substacks & Newsletters
Layoffs, mergers and acquisitions, discontinuations—nearly every day we are hearing of more and more traditional news operations falling on hard times. If those impacted journalists don’t find themselves in another newsroom, it seems many are turning to subscription-based Substacks and newsletters as their next gig.
Many journalists are also seeking more freedom and control over their reporting and writing, and the independent media culture that Substack enables—and subscribers support—gains more popularity with every day.
As Substack notes, the subscription model means “writers and creators need to be loyal only to their subscribers, not to advertisers, and can focus on quality more than inundation.”
As such, Substacks and newsletters have moved on from “amuse bouche” territory, and are fighting—and making a case—for “main course” status.
Artificial Intelligence
We would, of course, be remiss if we did not include AI in a blog discussing the wave of new media. Though different from the examples above as it’s not a type of media, AI will—and already has—have an impact on how stories are generated and distributed, as well as how consumers experience it.
Enterprise IT news and insights publication SDxCentral has entered the “new era of tech media” with StringerAI. According to a LinkedIn post from Matt Palmer, co-founder of SDXCentral, StringerAI is a tool that processes thousands of announcements a day, and selects those most relevant to audience members. “These were then syndicated across SDxCentral, ensuring the right information reaches the right decision-makers at the right time.” Further, “StringerAI not only distributes content, but also makes it easily searchable, providing timely, trusted, and authoritative insights that IT leaders need to make informed decisions—faster.”
The cherry on top of this delectable treat? SDxCentral writers can devote more time and resources to more in-depth and substantial pieces of content.
Traditional, alternative, new—the media landscape is serving up a buffet of new flavors every day. “New” can be exotic, different, and exciting, so let’s not be rude; grab a fork and knife and dig in.