Whether it is a blog, a podcast, a Wiki, a social media release or any other number of interactive tools, they are just that – tools.
Don’t get me wrong, unless you have been asleep under a rock, there is a radical shift in who or what influences target audiences and how they gather their content.   

And if a PR practitioner doesn’t invest time to learn, and even more importantly participate, in this new landscape, then chances are they will be left behind. 

But what I would argue is that most trained PR consultants have the strategic framework to incorporate new media, social media, and other media, into a cohesive program that achieves results. 

Why?  From day one of their university degree, PRs are trained to: 

• research the environment (all of it) in which a client operates
• understand/define the business/marketing/communication objectives
• determine the target audience and the best medium to reach them (old or “new”)
• devise and document key messages - many of which may be complex
• adapt these messages to multiple audiences and mediums (a social media release, a call to action for an email direct mail, a blog)
• test, implement, measure and modify communications to ensure they achieve objectives

What’s more, PRs should have the tactical skills and the understanding of a clients business to deliver it fast. 

So whether is new media, social media, old media or the next media that isn’t invented yet, I regard it as just another channel.   

A tool effective PRs have to be good at leveraging to achieve clients’ communication objectives.

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