Political Prophecy

An Essay I wrote for my Intro to PR Class

Summarizing an article from a Public Relations Trade Journal
and giving analysis.

Political Prophecy: A 2008 slam-dunk for blogs
Author: Wes Pedersen
Public Relations Quartly Volume 52 Issue 2

This article discussed the economic job pressures currently on the news business. In2005, Bill Keller who is the executive editor of the New York Times announced steep editorial job cuts due to the economic Job pressures. He confessed that the pressure has been so unrelenting over the years that no relief was in site.The pressure is coming from numerous fronts. The Rupert Murdochs of the journalist world seek to buy and change the most famousand most powerful dynastic names in the business. Then there are the bloggers who have proved to be not only simply commentators but, in some cases, genuine political powerhouses. The three that are well known are The Drudge Report written by Matt Drudge who broke the Clinton-Lewinsky story, The Huffington Post written by Ariana Huffington and The Politico wich is the 1st of the day reading for many in capitals around the country.

The Idea that’s offered here is clear: Public relations practitioners need to get with thefuture;
its here now. Cyberspace journalism offers vast opportunities for the innovative PR practitioner. This is something that I agree with 100%, with accusations always being made that the news media is all liberal and several outlets are becoming less objective. The blogs seem to be the only way to get out a message that will not be so heavily monitered by the people of the world that are so politically polarized.It could also provide the PR practioner with an outlet that is less likely to change the message they are trying to get across as opposed to an editor possibly changing the message and distorting it.

The article states that radio and tv remains the preferred outlets for many on the outside trying to get the word in but also it asks the reader to watch the power demonstrated by blogs this year and the next. This is very true as President Obama used the blogs as one of his tools during the election. The article ends by asking the reader to say a prayer for the famous name newspapers that have been used by so many PR campaigns in the past. They can still be important if only for the old line seal of approval they seem to affix to the message. But in dealing with politics, you’ve got to focus on blogs these days.