The Need for Greater Understanding of New Media in Public Relations

The use of new media in public relations practice is becoming increasingly common. This paper covers current new media practices, surveys new media usage in the field, and attempts to assess its success or failure. New media is defined as digital, computerized, or networked communication. In many cases success or failure is based on the level of understanding the public relations practitioner has of new media. This understanding must go beyond simple awareness to include many other factors. This paper attempts to gauge how practitioners use new media, how they measure its effectiveness, and their attitudes to its use, with the objective of exposing potential weaknesses in new media public relations strategies and improving the opportunity for success