New Media Opportunities Abound

The rapid transitions in the media industry were the topic of  the kick-off panel of a regional conference of the Broadcast Education Association at UC October 16-17.

This presentation consisted of a panel of local industry representatives, the first of whom was Cincinnati Educational Television (CET) chief operating officer Jack Dominic.  (Dominic is pictured above with Jim Price)

Dominic said public TV stations today must be “hyper-local”, that is--- to concentrate on programming that interests people in the area that they can't get anywhere else.

CET’s website features an increasing amount of local web programming, which plays an important role in attracting new viewers.

The next panel member was James Jackson, vice president  for new media at the Cincinnati Enquirer.  The first point he made was that newspapers are not dying--- they are simply moving  content to the web.

This changes what is expected of employees in the newspaper business.  They are expected to have decent web experience in addition to traditional newspaper skills.

Jackson said while the troubled economy is increasing consumer frugality, it gives innovation a much better chance to be successful.

Finally, he stressed that, there are still plenty of opportunities out there for E-Media grads.  Jackson listed four vital qualities for new graduates  to have.  They should be flexible, smart, inquisitive and adaptable.

The last panel member was new media executive Jim Price of Empower Media Marketing.  His message focused on integration---several different advertising vehicles are better than one. 

Advertising should be about the consumer first and foremost; your ideas won’t work otherwise. 

Price also said that clients are more interested in media strategy than the content of the advertising.  That is, “where” and “when” of marketing are more important than the “how”.

The panelists stressed three points about where the industry is going.

The first is that all types of media need to focus on the consumer before all else.  Hyper-local media is an example of this---it targets specific groups of people.

Secondly, the industry is becoming more integrated.  Most businesses no longer focus entirely on one media platform.

The third point is that even though the economy is bad, jobs are not hard to come by for people with the right media skills and character traits. 

The fourth and final point is that employers are looking more at the interpersonal and critical thinking skills of potential employees than anything else, and that real-world experience is still as valued as ever.

This presentation was moderated by E-Media Professor John Owens.

Written by William Mahlock, October 2009