Market Trends - PRNEWS

Cyber PR

Small Businesses Increase Net Reliance: Marcom to Follow?

If a new study holds true, communications execs at small businesses best brush up on their online know-how and become more proficient at managing the Internet as a communications tool.

That finding is based on an American City Business Journals/The NETWORK of City Business Journals survey, just released, that shows that nearly one-third of small businesses in the U.S. have Internet access.

The study, which focused on business use of electronic communications tools, indicated that 32 percent of small businesses (employing from one to 99 people) are linked to the Net, a 22 percent increase over the 10 percent that had access in late 1995.

Other findings of the survey:

27 percent of small businesses using the Internet have a Web site; and

40 percent of small businesses relying on electronic communications tools use them to purchase products and services for their businesses. (American City Business Journals, 215/238-5117)

On the Academic Front

Media Execs Recognize Worth of PR Schooling

Media execs are beginning to realize that churning out good journalists in the future will partly be based on how well journalism understands advertising, marketing communications and PR - not just journalism - according to a just-released survey. The nationwide poll was conducted for the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Mass Communications by Ketchum Public Relations Worldwide's Research and Measurement Department.

A total of 554 U.S. news managers, publishers, editors and TV and radio producers were questioned about journalism education as well as the new media. Results were recently released at an Associated Press Managing Editors conference. It used to be the case that most PR professionals were former editors and reporters who brought to the table a strict journalism background. But an increasing number of colleges and universities have offering degree programs in PR, and related communications disciplines, and the field's peppered with those who have never been practicing journalists.

Although a majority of survey respondents believe it's important that journalism schools offer courses in PR (55.2 percent) and advertising (52.3 percent), there still is some skepticism; two-thirds (67.7 percent) felt that as journalism schools plan for the future "it's important that journalism schools concentrate on what they were originally created for: to train and educate journalists."

The study also delves into media execs' perceptions of the new-media industry and the "predicted death" of the traditional media. It provides a fresh perspective - that Americans will still widely rely on the traditional media in the next decade - that contradicts the hasty retreat from the traditional media that some experts have reported.

According to the study:

Only 16 percent of respondents "strongly agreed" that "the 'new media' are having such a profound effect on how adult Americans receive and process information, that within another 10 years, the 'traditional media'.will have only a very limited, peripheral role to play" when it comes to information dissemination;

34 percent "strongly disagreed" - yet 30 percent strongly agreed - with the concept that people don't have as much faith in information filtered through the traditional media; and

56 percent "strongly agreed" (7.4 percent strongly disagreed) that civic journalism has been a crucial means for news organizations to re-connect with communities. (Ketchum, 212/448-4213)

We are currently preparing our 1998 PR NEWS Calendar of Events. Please fax or email Editor Debra Murphey by Nov. 21 any information about workshops, conferences and industry awards planned for 1998. Fax: 301/340-1451 email: [email protected]

Related

Recent