Is Free Media Changing the Face of PR?

We’ll beat any price or your mattress is freeeeee!  Or so says the man with the high-pitched voice in the bad commercials that pepper Southern California TV and radio.  Suddenly the idea of free is not such a bad thing and it’s catching on across media.

In a move that would surely make steam spout out of Scrooge McDuck’s ears, Rupert Murdoch announced that his newly-acquired baby and venerable symbol of corporate penny watching, The Wall Street Journal, would “make access to The Wall Street Journal’s Web site free, dropping subscription fees in exchange for anticipated ad revenue.”  This comes on the heels of the New York Times making a similar announcement and the announcement by Paste Magazine that it would allow new subscribers to pay as much as they wanted for their subscription.  And of course THIS happened.  And THIS.  And THAT.  And just to be safe, this will probably be free one day too.

So, as always, we must ask ourselves what does all this free media mean for P.R.?  Well, these announcements by WSJ, NYT and Paste should serve as the last of many wake-up calls that ring the death knell for the printed word.  Conde Nast’s Portfolio suggests that WSJ’s print circulation could drop by as much as 50% now that all content will be available online. 

P.R. professionals must now re-evaluate what qualifies as homerun coverage.  Sure the front page of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal is a great hit.  But it’s a hit that only a printer could love. Do these hits really grab as many viewers as an online hit would have?  Increasingly, the answer has to be no.  Especially once one factors in viral traction through email, book marking services, and outside links from websites or blogs like this one.  So, just to be on the safe side, be sure to include those Web editors on your media lists.

Why would anyone pay for something that they could get for free online (especially now that the guilt/shadiness of illegal downloading or re-using member passwords has been lifted)?  Thankfully, consumers of digital media can finally breathe knowing that there’s a good chance many of the things they love will one day be freeeeee!