Lessons Learned. This blog is based on 50 years of lessons learned about communicating. And the main lesson is that media revolutions change everything… from how communication works, to everything else.
Media Dynamics. This is the term I use for the message undercurrents, patterns, forces, and processes that are always at work bringing about often unnoticed social and individual behavior changes. Developing a “big picture” perspective is required to see how shocking statements over time are changing what is accepted discourse. And in this cluttered environment, dominating each day with bold media pronouncements has become a tactic for gaining and maintaining power.
Media Revolutions Change Everything. When television over took print as the dominant medium in society it changed the way families, politics, governments, education, religion, and even leadership work. Since then, digital technology and social media brought more changes… with both positive and negative consequences. And 24/7 cable news and a growing number of social media and Internet outlets produced even more changes… including consumer confusion caused by a daily deluge of information, opposing expert opinions , fake news, exaggerations, and lies.
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) for Institutions. The challenge these days is to cut through this media generated information clutter and respond effectively to intense competition between institutions. This requires combining the process and planning tools of organizational communication, group dynamics, marketing, social media, and market research, to create a more sophisticated model for making each institution better understood. I wrote a series of books about how IMC applies to academic institutions, which many have also found helpful when applied to other institutions. You can find them at… www.case.org/books
Media Literacy Education. With today’s digital world of political chaos and social change, media literacy should be a required course for every citizen… offered in public schools, universities and even community groups. Citizens must become editors of the information they consume… seeking a balanced of opinions, and acting as a watchdog for a constant flow of exaggerations and lies. The universe has become a confusing overload of mind-boggling information, and technology will guarantee that it stays that way.
