The relationship between public relations and the media has always been a symbiotic one, with both parties receiving help from the other in various ways. While it doesn’t always seem equal if you’re a PR pro trying to get a story in a major media outlet, you would without a doubt be worse off without access to the various forms of media.

But how much will that change in the future? Will local newspapers be just as important to the PR pros of 2020 and beyond or will the digital age change everything? Will all this media training go to waste? Let’s look at both scenarios and imagine possible futures with and without media and PR interaction.

With

The more things change, the more they stay the same. While traditional media outlets like newspapers are slowly going by the wayside, the role of media in public relations will stay the same. You will still have to talk to reporters and butter them up and you will suffer for hours trying to figure out the best way to phrase your press release.

Why? Because journalist – the “fourth estate” – is an esteemed necessary part of a free country.  Journalists have a saying “write about what they’re NOT telling you.” They consider it their job to speak truth to power and find out the real story. Sometimes that will involve talking to you. Even if you’re company is never part of a major trend or news story, there is still simply too much information flying past your face every single day to process everything going on. Have you ever tried reading the public Twitter feed? Yeah, it’s impossible, because there’s just too much going on.

So even if newspapers made of actual paper don’t exist in 2020 and beyond you’ll still have to send press releases and talk to reporters for your favorite websites (or whatever new thing is out then). Heck, you probably do that more now than send in stories to reporters who work at a newspaper anyway. Why would the future be any different?

Without 

On the other hand, the ability for every person to have their own “story” online becomes easier and easier by the day. Even regular, untrained citizens are doing the work we mentioned above of speaking truth to power. (Some would say that’s a good thing, others would say that’s dangerous.)  If you want to publish a great story and send it around the Internet all it takes is a little know-how and creativity. Suddenly the whole world is abuzz with talk about your company.

Think of who simple it is in today’s world to write something up and send it around to anyone interested. Now imagine a world with a decade or more of innovation in technology. Why would traditional “gatekeepers” still be around in that scenario? The Internet is a constantly evolving thing and it won’t slow down anytime soon.

Reporters and the like will be outdated in the future as the trend will continue towards community based promotions like blogs, social media, and even smartphone technologies previously unseen. The role of traditional reporters will be reduced to making sense of the constant feed of information coming in from around the world. However, there will be no need for PR pros to submit anything to them as there will be just too many avenues for submitting a story to the public.

Do you think the media’s role in PR will be lessened in the future?

This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (http://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download your free copy of 7 Cheap PR Tactics for Success in Any Economy here: http://www.ereleases.com/7cheaptactics.html