Us and Them?

A few years ago, a discussion between a conference panel of journalists and an auditorium of press officers would have been very different. As Tim Wood, AMA board member and chair of this Press and PR summit observed, the questions would have been along the lines of – “how do we get more coverage?” Now there are different concerns.

The AMA Press and PR Summit took place at the Museum of London on Thursday 8 March, with a dazzling range of journalists, press officers, bloggers, editors, marketers and digital media experts. It demonstrated that the old boundaries are breaking down: between journalist and publicist; public and critic; professional and amateur. Media consultant, trainer, speaker and writer Paul Bradshaw forecast that the tradition of the press night would soon be over, as it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between press critics and other commentators of importance. Similarly, Martin Belam (Lead User Experience & Information Architect, Guardian News and Media) argued that the standard practice – publicist gives content to journalist who tells public – is also being transformed.

Instead, we are in a media world where news gathering, production and distribution overlap. Likewise, deadlines – driven by the papers running off the presses – are increasingly irrelevant. As Belam suggested, it might be more important to generate social media at 4:30 in the afternoon to influence Newsnight that evening than to save the headline for the front page the next morning. In order to be effective, Bradshaw argued, we must understand the way that different media work in terms of speed or depth. The successful 21st Century newsroom uses both: generating and collecting content speedily (e.g. through Twitter); drafting and distributing (e.g. through live blogging); and producing in-depth analysis (e.g. through blogs and articles).

Of course, press work (as opposed to direct marketing for example) is supposed to be about gaining that valuable ‘third party endorsement’. The respected critic or well-known arts editor carry a weight of opinion that the ‘normal’ member of the public does not. This was hotly debated in the second half of the day. And Belam made a related point about the changing nature of the ‘authoritative voice’: The Guardian increasingly seeks out groups of experts, in order to gather ideas around a topic from those who command respect for their views.

After lunch delegates were able to talk in depth (and at some speed) with a range of experts from the industry. These included arts correspondents, bloggers, critics, arts PR officers, regional paper journalists, editors and the media partners for this event – David Bloom from Target Live and ArtsProfessional’s Liz Hill. Many of the lively debates focused on the consequences for us as people working in arts organisations: Is print dead? How do we deal with bloggers? What is better – coverage in papers or in digital media? How does our media work combine with other elements of marketing, now that the distinctions between press and marketing are disappearing?

Many of these points were brought back in a huge plenary, with the twelve Round Table hosts feeding back points from their tables. Traditional press dilemmas around exclusives for journalists and embargos were felt to be increasingly irrelevant. On the other hand, new problems have emerged over control of the message and quality and the difficulty of being able to service so many platforms, especially for small organisations.

Towards the end of the plenary, an interesting and slightly heated discussion emerged about the payment of writers, especially journalists. Now that ‘everyone’ can be a media writer and publisher, it was suggested that some newspapers and publishers were taking advantage. Would this lead to the extinction of professional journalists or would it mean they would be changing roles?

Whilst the emphasis of the day was on change, several contributors spoke (perhaps reassuringly) about what continues from the past. This included the need for a human connection, for journalists who can write well and arts media officers who provide routes into the work and people. One speaker spoke of something which has always been important – telling a good story – and the way this has changed. The ‘boy wears skirt’ phenomenon started simply and locally and ‘went global’ through the new world of digital media.

The challenge then for us as arts professionals working with media is the need to combine old skills with new tools and approaches. Judging by this event it is one which the sector is ready to take on.