Google News further solidified its position as a major media channel with a recently unveiled feature that could forever change the participation of story makers and timing of when a story has run its course. From Google:
“We'll be trying out a mechanism for publishing comments from a special subset of readers: those people or organizations who were actual participants in the story in question. Our long-term vision is that any participant will be able to send in their comments, and we'll show them next to the articles about the story. Comments will be published in full, without any edits, but marked as "comments" so readers know it's the individual's perspective, rather than part of a journalist's report.”
The feature will showcase comments submitted by a story’s sources in a layout that is more prominent than the general comments featured at the bottom of many online news sites, thus allowing story participants to contribute directly to what consumers read with no editorial influence.
While early reviews of this feature are somewhat mixed no one can deny that this feature could dramatically change the role of PR professionals in shaping and crafting news. This new feature will allow spokespeople, KOLs and other experts to weigh in on a story AFTER it has hit the streets and participate in the ongoing dialogue that a story creates. This also will require a new level of monitoring and follow-up communications around stories (especially during crisis communications) than ever before.
When story makers can continue to shape news after publishing, both agencies and in-house communicators will need to develop faster and smarter response mechanisms. Organizations that take days or even hours to carefully craft messages may miss the opportunity to participate in the conversation around stories as they unfold.
As new technologies allow for more direct dialogue and participatory journalism, communications professionals need to figure out how to stay relevant and influential as new channels emerge and traditional publishing lines blur.