Cutline Speaks

Online Only: It’s a Good Thing

posted by The Cutline Team on September 25, 2009

When I first started out in PR as an intern, one of the first successes the team I worked for had was landing an "above the fold" story in a print edition of a major newspaper. Obviously, this made the client very, very happy. Back then, a huge part of my intern duties included compiling large physical clip books to send to clients after a major launch or media tour. Those days were all about cutting and pasting pretty mastheads. Good times. Emailing a story to a client was at that time sometimes possible, usually not. Sometimes the newspaper included a story online sometimes it didn't. Some newspapers didn't even have an online presence.

Wow. I just really aged myself. My point is, back in the day, it was all about print media when it came to showcasing coverage results.

Today, things are much different. A new survey out this week reveals that more and more Americans do in fact rely on the Web to get their news. Daily newspaper usage dropped 4.1 percent while online usage increased 1.9 percent. And yet, despite these facts, many clients still have a hard time seeing the value in a story that's only included in the online edition of say, The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times, and not in print. This is understandable but as the media landscape continues to change rapidly and dramatically, it falls to PR professionals to communicate that sometimes who writes the story is more important that where that story ends up.

MTV's Director of Communications, Tom Biro does an excellent job addressing this very topic in a piece he wrote for PR Week titled “Bylines, not pulp, are what count.” He explains why online-only opportunities are becoming more and more common and can be just as valuable, given who the reporter is, as a print piece. I recommend you check out this highly worthwhile read (and I bet you do it online).

Tags for this post: pr