"Traditional media are not dead" seems to be the message from a recent survey conducted for Ketchum by the University of Southern California's (USC) Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center. The survey of nearly 1,500 adult Americans and 500 communications professionals found that, crossing all generations, nearly 74 percent watch local TV news and 70 percent rely on their local newspapers, in print, broadcast or online versions. By contrast, only a little over 13 percent of the public use blogs, just under five percent use podcasts and 4.5 percent view media through their cell phones. Furthermore, those that read blogs give them a credibility of only 5.2 on a scale of 10. But local-newspaper readers give those publications a 7.2 rating and local-TV news watchers give that medium a 7.4.

It's not just the codgers relying on local conventional media; the survey found that more than half of 18-to-24-year-olds read local newspapers, and more than 16 percent read national papers. Young adults, in fact, make significant use of all types of new and traditional media, according to the report.

One of the most surprising findings in the USC survey was that social networking is being adopted by a large proportion of adults, not just kids. Among people 18 to 24 years old, nearly 42 percent said they use social networks more than any of the other new media, and for those 25 to 34, nearly 31 percent said the same thing. For ages 35-44, 15 percent ranked social networks highest, as did 10 percent of those 45 to 54.

Word of mouth is a significant medium, as well. Nearly 44 percent of consumers take advice from family or friends on purchases and a fourth follow recommendations of coworkers.

One piece of advice for businesses about their Web sites: the study's authors say half of the communications professionals surveyed use their company Web site most for announcements, but only 6.8 percent of consumers visit Web sites to find that kind of information. Instead, the public uses Web sites to acquire information before a major purchase.

"Clearly, PR campaigns must continue to expand to emerging channels of communications-but do so without abandoning traditional channels," observes Steve Friedman, Airfoil editorial services director. "The ability of PR to generate word-of-mouth buzz about a product and to reach all generations of consumers makes it a crucial factor in building brands."

From the "it-sounded-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time" department:

When the blogosphere began exploding, the nation's major newspapers realized that blogging could be a way to give readers a new perspective on their reporters and their stories. So today, in its online editions, the Wall Street Journal runs blogs on law and business, Washington politics, work-life balance, Wall Street, the wealthy, and insights from other readers. The New York Times runs 23 different blogs on topics from technology and business deals to movies, politics and wines. Podcasts add yet another level of interaction with reporters, and newspaper journalists have begun appearing on television news shows as analysts.

Apparently, newspapers rushed so quickly into blogs, podcasts and multimedia, however, that they neglected to figure out how these new demands would impact their reporters. Now reporters are beginning to rebel against the additional workload, according to The Editors Weblog, the blog of the World Editors Forum of the World Association of Newspapers. The group reports that a union of journalists at the Wall Street Journal "recently declared that its journalists would no longer be doing external or internal interviews pro bono. The Journal's reporters regularly appear on CNBC through an agreement that the cable news station has with the paper, but are not remunerated." The Associated Press adds that union members at the Journal also will no longer carry out podcasts or Webcast interviews for the paper's Web site, following a breakdown in contract negotiations.

Furthermore, MarketWatch reports that "editors at the Washington Post are wrestling with discontent from reporters who think they should be paid extra for contributing to a group Web log. The Washington City Paper reported staffers on the Post's metro section asked for extra money after learning some prominent bylines were being paid for Web logs while they would not be."

The Editors Weblog quotes a Vanity Fair article in which a New York Times staffer complains "that the Internet has caused 'everyone to do more and more for no more money.'"

Businesses should learn from the media themselves that the benefits of today's emerging communications channels come with a price tag, and companies should take into account the impact on staff before launching major new programs.