Interesting rticle in Advertising Age, titled "As media market shrinks, PR passes up reporters, pitches directly to consumers; Best Buy, MasterCard among those creating their own content"

Some extracts:

According to the website Paper Cuts, which tracks layoffs and buyouts at U.S. newspapers, nearly 30,000 reporters have left the industry since the beginning of 2008.

"The traditional one-way media model has definitely had its day," said Sam Lucas, chair of U.S. brand marketing at WPP's Burson-Marsteller. "So agencies are talking to clients about these engagement models much more." And while they haven't completely abandoned traditional media outlets, big-name marketers... have taken matters into their own hands by creating content and bringing it straight to consumers."

 Coldwell Banker Real Estate, uses YouTube to post educational videos about the housing market and purchase process as well as house listings. "We can bypass the media and do videos from our CEO, brokers and agents talking about what first-time home buyers should do...you have a consumer that needs and wants to be re-educated on the nuances of housing. So we post the videos and drive traffic through social media."

Geek Squad's Paula Baldwin: "For [Geek Squad], the move to create content was partly about filling the void left by the change in the media landscape," Ms. Baldwin said. "But it was also about filling a willingness we perceived in our customers for more access to Geek Squad's knowledge."

MasterCard has gone the low-production route. It's taping its executives using Flip video camcorders, editing the video on laptops and uploading them toYouTube... MasterCard isn't "necessarily becoming less reliant" on mainstream media; the company just realizes it's not the only game in town.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I see the same happening in other companies. I see it as a natural evolution. The one-way media model certainly no longer reigns supreme- but it's also not going to fade into insignificance either. A journalist's reliance on the PR department is no longer as strong. He's looking at blogs and twitter for sources of information. It works both ways. It's classic threat and opportunity with big media, companies and channels caught up in this disruption. Some will prefer the old ways and resist change. Some will seize the opportunity.

The entire article is worth reading at Advertising Age. As the article is more than seven days old you need to be a subscriber.