Journalism schools are scary places nowadays. They continue to teach bright, eager students to produce quality content, but sometimes, we’re not sure why. After all, prospects are supposed to be gloomy, right? Professional journalism is dying, slowly replaced by Joe Schmoe and his fantastic Blog of Random Thoughts – and no one really knows what to do with social media.
That’s what I’d heard, anyway. But during my internship at TMG, I’ve had the opportunity to see some excellent media innovators at work and learn about the real state of the industry. And this is what I’ve found:
1. Crowd-sourcing and amateur writing have their place, one they’re continuing to realize as the web levels the playing field. But there will always be a special place for professional publications, because they bring reliability, professionalism, and a focused sense of tone, audience, and timing to everything they work on. This is something people notice – often unconsciously – and it fills a different niche in their lives.
2. Media is a very positive industry because it’s symbiotic. The advertisers, the businesses and people featured, and the producers themselves all benefit – so there’s a lot of cooperation. For the Washington Flyer magazine, we provide a service to the airports and the people who fly there – a free source of quality entertainment and information. In exchange, they give us a space and a readership to promote great places, events, and products – which in return get more attention. I love working in a place where we get positive comments every day from people who liked our articles and businesses who were thrilled to be featured. Far from a one-sided situation, we all help each other.
3. It is possible to have multiple balls in the air. TMG has such a diverse set of publications, with each its own audience and purpose. But, there’s such a strong focus on each one – when someone is talking about WebMD the Magazine, or Thrivent, or the Flyer, they are 100% focused on and committed to that publication. Different people at TMG have different specialties and different backgrounds, but they all contribute something valuable, and everyone has hands in more than one project at a time. If anything, the different publications can highlight the differences in each other, making their focus and specialty clearer.
4. Social media does work, and it’s not just random. The reason people use multiple online services is because each one has it’s own specialty. Pinterest is great for sharing high quality images, recipes, and other quick-hit content, while tablet apps are great for longer reads and Facebook is good for facilitating conversations and encouraging others to share. Twitter is a format ideally suited to the media field because it’s largely about link-sharing and facilitating the exchange of information. Sure, you promote your own work – but you also build relationships across the network and help each other out by retweeting. It’s all about give and take, and emphasis on “social.” Retweeting gives you fresh content and helps others spread their message to an appreciative audience – another win-win.
5. I used to think that having a blog was just something companies “had to do” – a basic symbol of professional seriousness, like a domain name. But I learned that a good blog can really help, especially in the media business. Looking back, it seems obvious. Engage the blog gives TMG the chance to show off its wide-ranging expertise, writing ability, and diversity of voices and faces. I found myself intrigued every time a new blog post was sent to my email, and not because a new office friend wrote it – but because the topic itself was interesting. And the content was actually relevant and interesting.
Although media professionals now have to be more creative and reach out on more platforms than ever before, the best strategy remains what it’s always been, the same strategy I learned in Journalism school – concentrate on content and service. Produce work you’re proud of, work that gives back to everyone it touches. If you give, the getting takes care of itself.
[Image: j.o.h.n walker]
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