PR and media. Their definition is shifting from "platforms" to "connected people."

<Table of Contents>
▼Media with "Relay Functions" Beyond Information Transmission

▼Media as Information Pathways and "Rating Agencies"

▼Beyond News and Social Media: The Importance of Integrated Media Utilization

▼Consumers Tailoring Personas for Different Media

▼: The Era of Viewing Human Connections Themselves as "Media"

Media with "Relay Functionality" Beyond Information Transmission

The word "media" originates from the Latin "medium," meaning "middle" or "intermediary." By the 17th century, "medium" was primarily used to denote "intermediary" or "interposition." Thus, the modern term "media" can also be understood as signifying a collective of information carriers.

In the communications industry, mass media has long been prioritized for its efficiency in reaching a wide audience. Mass media is defined as a medium delivering information to the "mass" (general public), with newspapers, magazines, and television historically fulfilling this role.

However, as you know, the advent of the internet led to the rise of websites, blogs, and various social media platforms, significantly changing how people access information. In 2021, internet advertising expenditure surpassed the combined advertising expenditure of the four mass media for the first time.

Alongside this growth in online advertising, information dissemination through social media has also become increasingly active. We have entered an era where people consume vast amounts of information online. Concurrently, a fierce competition has emerged among information disseminators, including companies, influencers, and ordinary individuals. Even the former kings of the industry, newspapers and television, have joined the fray as players, vying fiercely for dominance.

Multiple channels for information distribution now exist, and how to combine and control them has become a major role assigned to those of us engaged in communication.

Information disseminators via the internet include not only emerging web media but also the traditional four mass media: newspapers, magazines, television, and radio. While the internet was once viewed as the "fifth medium" following the four mass media, it is actually an "information platform" that incorporates all information disseminators, including the four mass media.

Broadcasters, who once obtained their status as information disseminators through a licensing system, now find themselves competing on the internet with individual influencers for social media followers on a level playing field. This has created a chaotic battlefield where all players jostle for position – a true era of upheaval and rivalry, akin to a warring states period.

Furthermore, the environment where publishers (content creators) and media (information distribution channels) were once integrated has split into "created content" and "information distribution platforms." It has also become commonplace for a single publisher to provide the same content across multiple platforms.

Furthermore, diverse algorithms began functioning on each internet platform to match publishers with their audiences. Platforms, once mere conduits for information flow, transformed into spaces where information is filtered and delivered based on each platform's distribution rules, tailored to the attributes and interests of the audience.

In this way, platforms/social media as online media have truly become information "intermediaries" with relay functions.

Media is both an information pathway and an information "rating agency."

Next, let's examine media theory from a "PR" perspective.

Mass media, as a "public" entity simultaneously visible to many people, was also valued for its objectivity and reliability. Furthermore, as the term "The Fourth Estate" (the fourth power alongside the legislative, executive, and judicial branches) suggests, it has been positioned as a "check on power."

Advertising can convey only what companies or brands wish to communicate to consumers, but this information is ultimately limited to the corporate or brand perspective. In contrast, information conveyed through trusted third-party reporting was perceived as objective, carrying the "mass media's seal of approval."

This is where PR value is found, and it also explains why "publicity"—one of the PR techniques—is emphasized.

Related Article:
PR and Journalism: New Media Relations

In advanced democracies, what was discussed in mainstream media was considered neutral, and those opinions were perceived as coming from a kind of authority figure or opinion leader. The media's views shaped the general public's perspective—that is, common sense—and became established as mainstream opinion.

However, people's value systems have significantly changed. We have transitioned from an era where everyone evaluated the same things in the same way to a social environment that respects individual values, even if they belong to a minority. Media has diversified, and acceptance of information disseminated by individual influencers, particularly among younger demographics, has grown.

As influencers, true to their name, began exerting significant influence (influencing) on the core objectives of communication activities—changing people's awareness and attitudes—the reliance on media as a primary information source also shifted its focus from mass media to social media.

This has accelerated the era of diverse values, where people no longer pander to authority or common sense but instead prioritize what they personally believe in.

Thus, information dissemination centered around social media resembles a marathon event open to both professionals and amateurs. "Traditional information dissemination from limited providers" and "information dissemination from consumers themselves" coexist on the same information channels, competing for people's attention.

However, much of the information disseminated online does not necessarily guarantee the value of "information worth knowing specifically through this medium."

In recent times, where baseless anonymous posts and deliberate fake news have made the very authenticity of information questionable, we are now seeing a return to a situation where "who disseminated the information" holds even greater value than before.

Thus, mass media and social media exist in a highly complex relationship that cannot be simply divided.

It's not just about news or social media—the integrated use of media is crucial.

A different perspective for organizing each medium is the "PESO" model.

• Paid (Advertising)
• Earned (Articles/News Coverage)
• Shared (Social Media)
• Owned (company-owned media such as websites and social media channels)

This acronym is formed from the first letters of these four categories.

People don't get their information solely from ads or just news. Sources have diversified, including social media posts and company official sites where people go to dig deeper into information. Consequently, it has become standard practice for information providers to manage these PESO channels holistically.

In the PESO classification system,

• Advertising information reach
• Adding credibility or creating buzz as news
• Fostering empathy for social media posts
• Responsible corporate statements on official websites

Each medium plays a distinct role.

Furthermore, as people cycle through these PESO media, the "construction of steps for awareness and attitude change through information exposure"—deepening understanding and fostering empathy—is now crucial.

What kind of people first encounter information from which media, and where do they supplement other necessary information?

Visualizing the target audience's "information contact journey" and strategically distributing appropriate information across these channels is an essential skill for engaging today's digitally savvy consumers—those adept at using digital tools and skilled at gathering information.

Consumers who switch personas depending on the medium

In the past, mass media served as a reflection of the interests of its readers and viewers, acting as a useful point of contact with "people who similarly valued the information provided by that medium."

Recall how magazine readership demographics were once explained by characteristics like gender, age, and occupation. However, such categorizations of consumers—whether through "demographics" or symbolic "personas"—may be losing their practical relevance.

Individuals possess multiple attributes. They may have different accounts for different media platforms, or multiple accounts on social media, tailoring their persona for each account. Approaching targets uniformly, lumping them together, risks misjudging them.

Simply assuming, as in the past, that "behind a given media platform lies a large, homogeneous group of consumers" makes it difficult to capture the clusters or tribes that connect through more specific, niche interests. When disseminating information, it's essential to identify the content they share a common interest in and target their precise points of interest.

Put simply, this means "theme setting" is crucial. Today, people gather not around media outlets, but around presented "themes," seeking dialogue there.

If you want to communicate something to a larger audience, as traditional mass media has done, you need to prepare a "master theme" – a topic that many people find interesting, can join in discussions about, and feel compelled to comment on.

Master themes transcend media attributes and are addressed in various spaces. They naturally appear in mass media like newspapers and television, but opinions also fly around on social media, with YouTubers offering their perspectives on them.

On social media, which now significantly influences many people, the interactive style is dominant: users post their opinions on masutema, influencing each other. Here, people who were previously passive listeners to mass media actively voice their opinions, and賛否 (approval and disapproval) toward those opinions emerge.

The voices and thoughts of those previously called the silent majority become visible here, sometimes revealing broader societal trends. In this environment, engaging with major themes, gathering opinions, fostering dialogue, and then determining how to converge and land these discussions— —is what will be required of PR professionals going forward.

Toward an era where human connections themselves are seen as "media"

Now, more than the media itself, what connects people through specific "themes" or information is becoming increasingly important. In the future, the ultimate media might refer to the clusters, tribes, or even communities where these people gather.

Information channels and platforms, both online and offline, are born and disappear, repeating cycles of rise and fall. The people who were there migrate one after another to newly emerging platforms and channels.

However, even as information platforms change, trusted publishers—whether companies or individuals—will likely endure.

Earlier, we touched on the reliability of mass media information. Yet, even with information shared and exchanged by individual influencers or everyday people, seeing a human face can add credibility – "I trust this person" – potentially enhancing the information's value.

In other words, we may be entering an era where we refer to the people themselves—the trustworthy entities who disseminate and exchange information—as "media," rather than the channels or platforms where information is shared.