The Daily: A New Era of Journalism

The Daily, a totally online, iPad only interactive newspaper launched by Rupert Murdoch February 2, 2011 is going to change the way public relations practitioners must learn how to pitch.

Not only how they pitch a story but also how the story is developed and how consumers receive the story. Innovative and simple, The Daily is the start to a new era of journalism.

Lets begin with the background:

 The Daily was devised to appear identically with a regular print publication while going beyond print capabilities. Although it is completely online, the interactive features create the feel of a print paper. Simple to navigate, it includes everything a print publication has at the touch of a button – even cross word puzzles and Sudoku games.

“With The Daily, Rupert Murdoch has given us the chance to rethink the entire experience of news delivery and consumption,” said Mr. Clayman.” (http://www.thedaily.com/press-release/)

This may not be the first online only paper (Huffington Post is online) but it is the first app only publication to date. With over 300,000 (and well over 300,000) iPads sold across the nation and internationally, The Daily has creatively launched a new product that will be highly successful because it combines innovation interaction with the immediacies of newspapers.

Problems with The Daily? This may be the only way to read the news one day. By demonstrating the simplicity of a tablet-only newspaper, The Daily has successfully started a new product with high potential for growth. If publications are only available online or through apps, it will force consumers to purchase tablet-like items to read the paper, which is expensive. The number of print publications is continuing to decrease and online versions, such as the Huffington Post are become incredibly influential in the journalistic world. The Daily is the beginning.

So what does this mean for public relations? I believe that more creative pitching ideas need to emerge. Pitching for The Daily will involve more videos and interactive capabilities. Most stories will need to have some feature that engages the reader with more than words or graphics. Static press releases will not suffice for The Daily. Creativity will be the key to successful pitching. While this is all speculation, I honestly believe this is something public relations students and professionals must recognize and understand for the client as well as for the consumer.

The Daily is unlikely to be the only publication of its kind so we need to search our brains and look into the future. We have learned from social media (Twitter/Facebook) how influential the web is.

 “We’re going to bring that magic to The Daily -- to inform people, to make them think, to help them engage in the great issues of the day. And as we continue to improve and evolve, we are going to use the best in new technology to push the boundaries of reporting.” (http://www.thedaily.com/press-release/)

Pushing the boundaries of reporting is exactly the futuristic mind-set that journalists as well as public relations professionals must hone into. Leaping ahead of the curve will differentiate one PR person from another and one client from another.

All in all, The Daily has changed the course of the public relations profession, whether we want to admit 

it or not. The days of press releases in the manner we know them today must cease to exist and a new form has to emerge. While I do not have the answer to what that will be, I do know that we need to figure it out soon. Thus, the new era of journalism begins.