CorpComms Magazine

Social media is continuing to shake up the mainstream media outlets by forcing them to be increasingly vigilant, according a report by Vocus. 

The annual State of the Media Report predicts industry trends for 2012 and looks back at the key developments in 2011. 

'As well as forcing reporters to be more vigilant for breaking news, because many of 2011's top stories broke via Twitter, it has made journalists responsible for promoting their stories in addition to reporting them. For high-profile journalists, however, social media is good news, with top reporters becoming online brands in their own right,' the report says. 

The good news for publishers was that for the first time in three years, no major newspaper closed due to industry issues in 2011. Less favourable was that in 2011, approximately 20 bureaus were shut down.

In 2011 the magazine industry largely mimicked 2010, with more launches than closures and moderate layoffs in magazine newsrooms, says Rebecca Bredholt, managing editor of content at Vocus Media Research Group. 

Bredholt says the launch of Social Media Monthly was one of several significant events of 2011. 'The launch of Social Media Monthly, a print magazine about social media, just goes to show that the print landscape is less cluttered,' she says. 'It's easier to stand out and get people's full attention with a curated hard copy.'

'The report paints an exciting picture of change,' says Katrina Mendolera, the report's author. 'Newspapers are adapting to the paywall model. Magazines are developing tablet-first editions,' she says. 

share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit | Tweet