數(shù)字革命最終會加強新聞業(yè),但目前為止更擅長經(jīng)營web的是公共關系行業(yè)。
In the century in which PR has been an organisedtrade, the case for its importance in business hasbeen the establishment of reputation. Now, thespeed and ubiquity of digital communications bothmakes reputation more fragile — they can make achief executive history with a tweet — and allowscorporations and their leaders to develop their own channels, direct to consumers, without theintermediation of pesky reporters.
一個世紀以來,公關一直是個有組織的行當,其在商界的重要性在于建立聲譽。如今,數(shù)字通信的快速和無所不在既令聲譽更加脆弱(發(fā)條推文就能讓一位首席執(zhí)行官成為歷史),也讓企業(yè)及其領導人開辟直接面向消費者的傳播渠道,跳過記者這一惱人的中間環(huán)節(jié)。
The power balance has shifted. “Brand journalism”, produced by corporations and institutionsand beamed direct to audiences through social media, is on the rise.
實力平衡發(fā)生了轉變。由企業(yè)和機構制作,通過社交媒體直接發(fā)送給受眾的“品牌導向型新聞”正在興起。
Public relations people, often former journalists, now supply much more copy to cash-strapped, slimmed down newspapers. “Native advertising”, designed to look and read like thepublication into which it is inserted (with a discreet notice that it is sponsored), is a growingtrend: papers are now taking on teams of writers to craft the copy the advertisers want intheir outlet’s style.
公關人員往往從事過記者這行,如今他們向資金拮據(jù)、瘦身后的報紙輸送的新聞稿比以往多得多。“原生廣告”成為一種日益盛行的趨勢,這種廣告的版面設計和內(nèi)容跟所要插入的出版物風格一致(只是在不顯眼的地方聲明其為贊助內(nèi)容)。報紙現(xiàn)在聘用寫作團隊,根據(jù)各自的風格為廣告商精心打造文稿。
Business leaders, especially the more visible ones, are being groomed to join “theconversation” — a 24-hour digital commons where corporate and institutional voices mustbe heard and seen — without the intercession of a journalist.
商界領袖,尤其是那些露面較多的領導者正接受專業(yè)培訓,以便參加沒有記者干擾的“對話”——一個24小時的數(shù)字公地,企業(yè)和機構的聲音必須被聽到、看到。
Some, such as Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever, are public figures on issues (theenvironment in his case) beyond his corporation. In political communication as in corporatePR, the use of big data banks allow the identification of issues, concerns, habits and intentionsright down to an individual level. Campaigns are increasingly run through social media, in whichleaders as diverse as Barack Obama (re-elected in 2012) and India’s Narendra Modi (elected in2014) built and retained an apparently “personal” connection with their voter base.
有些企業(yè)領導,比如聯(lián)合利華首席執(zhí)行官保羅•波爾曼(Paul Polman),已成為某些議題上的公眾人物(波爾曼關注的是環(huán)境問題),其影響超出自己的公司。搞政治傳播與經(jīng)營企業(yè)公關一樣,利用大數(shù)據(jù)庫可以識別議題、關切、習慣和意向,一直細化到個體層面。競選活動對社交媒體的運用越來越多,各國領導人都在與自己的基礎選民建立并保持貌似“個人”的聯(lián)系,包括2012年獲得連任的巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama),以及2014年當選的印度總理納倫德拉•莫迪(Narendra Modi)。