The Future of Journalism | A Call for Disruption

“The new economy has always been about the capacity of one smart, passionate person — an inspired innovator, a dynamic leader, a wild-eyed entrepreneur — to do extraordinary things.” – Daniel Pink

The time for extraordinary things in Journalism is now. As Marketing and Communications leaders, we are enabled with the capability to disrupt, to innovate, and to spark a whole new dimension of powerful storytelling. The facts are just facts if allowed to remain hidden in obscurity. The responsibility of today’s new communicator is to captain the ship of illumination opening our eyes to new ways of thinking about how we foster mass influence.

The questions: What is our responsibility? What should stand at the top of of our priorities list? Which direction should we head? How will we increase the appeal of a career in fact finding, good writing, and community impact?

These are exactly the kinds of questions that lead one to seek out answers.

Enter my Future of Journalism survey. Part curiosity and part graduate capstone requirement.

Help me answer these questions. As leaders and stakeholders of one of the nation’s most innovative programs, your perspective is a much needed catalyst for rethinking the future of Journalism education.

Let’s champion the prolific.

The Future Starts Now!

Rising 39 stories high in the skyline, the magnificent Marriott Marquis San Francisco Hotel exudes an essence of modern luxury and the convenience of an extraordinary downtown San Francisco hotel. For four power packed days, this lovely hotel in San Francisco served as the home of the Public Relations Society of America’s International Conference and largest public relations gathering in the world!

The theme of this year’s conference was aptly titled, “The Future Starts Now.”

As an IMC student at WVU, I was given the fantastic opportunity to experience this conference and represent the Mountaineers! Let me say, that I wasn’t disappointed. The conference included lots of opportunities for good networking and focused on several relevant topics for those keeping tabs on the trends taking place in the field of public relations and  integrated marketing communications. Here are a few of my favorite sessions:

• How to Turn the Agency/Client Relationship Into a Win-Win
• World Class Communication: How Great CEO’s Win With Key Audiences 
• Speaking to Diverse Groups: Successful Strategies in Multicultural PR
• Leading the Way for a More Social Business (My favorite!)

Overall, I had a fantastic time and was certainly able to combine the lessons learned in the IMC program with the topics being discussed in each workshop. One person in a particular workshop talked about the need to remind students who are fresh out of college about the importance of traditional marketing and ROI. Guess what? What a perfect opportunity to plug the IMC program at WVU and share some of my knowledge gained.

Sure seems like we’re going back to that theme of “real world application.”

Well, of course, because it’s true!

Thank you WVU for the awesome opportunity!