Thoughts on future of PR and citizen journalism

I was compelled to comment on a new blog posting from a wonderful colleague, Richie Escovedo. In a blog posting today, Richie covered citizen journalism and the role of PR pros.

Check out his post at the link below and consider subscribing to his blog. It is a good one!
http://bit.ly/fVsS0

Here's what I thought about what Richie covered:

PR pros must be monitoring and be ready for citizen journalism. Richie, thanks for summarizing this in such a nice way.

I, too, appreciate that many media outlets are listening and involving their readers. Yes, this is a real shift/change for traditional journalists and PR pros, but it is the NEW REALITY!

As PR pros, we have an even greater opportunity to tell our stories with the tools of social media, and if we maintain strong stakeholder relations and openness with all of our employees, customers and others, they can help us do this. Transparency and listening are key.

The element of not being able to "control the message" is what is difficult for many in communications to accept. Again, this is the environment we are now working in. We must be monitoring the field of social media, be "in the know" on everything that is happening and realize that anything is a possible story!

We must continue to be the most FULLY-INFORMED PR pro for our companies and our clients.

Richie's post is a perfect summary of what is happening. I encourage all PR pros to get ready and be constantly monitoring their fields of interest.