One of the activities we got to do as part of the World PR Forum was to take a tour of the media facilities and publications here in Melbourne. I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to not only learn about what others in PR are doing, but also learn the media landscape in Australia.We got a chance to visit three places: The Hub Melbourne, SBS, and The Age.
The Hub Melbourne
The first place we stopped at was The Hub Melbourne. The Hub was a professional member community where freelancers, consultants, and teams could gather and work on their projects in a creative and innovative space. It was fun to see the colorful nature of their offices and see how they use the space for innovation and creativity. We saw everything from business projects to freelancing. This was a cool creative space to be part of for a couple of hours.
Getting the tour of the SBS radio station
We then got to go see SBS, which is their largest radio station in Australia. In the US, we consider radio to be just traditional media, but here in Australia – it is the powerhouse media for them to communicate. It was interesting to hear their insights on how they frame their entire station on storytelling and to focus on communicating and reaching audiences in multiple languages.
Editor-in-Chief at The Age gives us a tour of their facilities
The last place we stopped at was The Age, which is one of the largest print publications in Australia and in Melbourne. It was interesting to get a tour of their facilities as well as hear about their latest transition from print to focus on “digital first.” It was also interesting to see the shift from traditional jouranlism to reverse journalism for them since they would publish the content first online and then their papers. Plus, they are becoming a multimedia publication with the addition to radio and television for their interviews and stories, which I thought was fascinating.
So, what were some of the things I learned from this experience? There are many things I am going to not only share with my students at Louisville, but also share with my PR colleagues as well about my time touring the media landscape in Australia. Here are just a few things that I would like to share:
- Social media is the ultimate lifeline: Australians say that they recognize the power of social media not only for their communities, but also to keep in touch with other parts of the world. Many say since they are not able to go to conferences, they rely heavily on the hashtags and conversations emerging from Twitter so they can feel part of the conversations.
- Radio is still a power player in the media circuit: If you want to see how radio is done, you need to see what Australia is doing. I was very impressed with their level of integration as well as strategy behind always being a step ahead of the technology with mobile apps, iPad apps, and tailoring the radio experience by providing specific apps for specific languages.
- Collaboration is essential for PR efforts in Australia: It was very interesting to talk with fellow attendees and professionals from Australia. I learned everything from what goes on with the PR efforts for the National Australian Museum and what are some scenarios and warning messages that need to be implemented for their Transportation services in the city as well as in the Outback. It is all about sharing insights and knowledge for the PR community, which was exciting to see.
- Storytelling is at the core of media and PR practices in Australia: I definitely saw a recurring theme over and over again on the tour – and it was the fact stories are essential to communicate across the various platforms. We have discussed the power of storytelling back in the States related to what is being done in social media, but Australia has really integrated this concept both strategically and effectively for their various markets and audiences.
Overall, I really enjoyed my media tour of Melbourne – it was a great learning experience for me to see the PR landscape of Melbourne and I am now able to share these insights with some of my colleagues and students back in the States.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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