Why Traditional Media Still Matters in Today’s Digital Age

Old media not dead yet…

With perpetual hype surrounding the proliferation of social media, traditional media often appears cast aside as the shunned stepchild in today’s fast evolving mobile, digital and virtual world of news consumption.

Yet despite a conspicuous shift in the media landscape caused by the 21st century Information Age, tens of millions of Americans still consume news that is originally reported and produced by traditional media — including state news and hyper-localized news in smaller media markets nationwide.

Thus while it remains important to focus on maximizing social media, today’s public relations (PR) pros and professional communicators should also not forget about traditional news media (also known as “legacy media” or “old media”). That’s because old media still plays a vital role in modern journalism.

In fact, traditional news outlets — including national newspapers, network/cable TV and radio news — continue to transition and transform by leveraging digital, mobile and social platforms. This is a must to remain relevant and compete with colossal social media mainstays like Facebook.

Interestingly, many leading traditional newspapers, such as The New York Times, now have higher digital readerships…