Changing Work: Always on in the Always On News Cycle

Photo Illustration from Agility PR Solutions (Carufel, 2019).

The adoption of cellular technology to provide instant connection anywhere has revolutionized the way information is received. Most importantly, in has changed the way professional communicators work from the fields of journalism, marketing and public relations. The introduction of cellular connectivity as a norm has created a 24-hour news and information environment that requires information professionals to always be “on.”

Audiences engaging their news mostly from mobile and cellular devices have the expectation that they news will always be updated in their pocket. They will have access to the most up to date information. Smartphones are now in the hands of 85 percent of the general public and 50 percent or more receive news information from social media (Pew Research, 2021; Walker, 2019).

Audience expectation implies new capability for people providing the information whether a journalist or spokesperson. According to MuckRack, If the media needs something, you want to get it to them right away. If you wait too long (even by an hour), you could risk missing out on the opportunity (Schneider, 2020). News media and the people who work with them need to operate in the 24-hour cycle and understand and leverage it to provide information on behalf of their organization.

News and information professionals need to always be on. This doesn’t mean the individual. The organization should create teams to provide 24-hour coverage without resulting to burning out good employees who care about the organization. On call rosters, a duty “phone” and leaders providing guidance and expectations for responding to emails, texts etc. help in providing some comfort to the people working in what is commonly known as the most stressful occupations (Carufel, 2019).

References

References

Carufel, R. (2019, March 18). The most stressful jobs of 2019—“PR Executive” ranked among Top 10. Agility PR Solutions. https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-relations/the-most-stressful-jobs-of-2019-pr-executive-ranked-among-top-10/

Pew Research Center. (2021, April 7). Mobile Fact Sheet. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/

Schneider, M. (2020, April 27). How to spot burnout in your PR team (and what to do about it). Muckrack.com. https://muckrack.com/blog/2020/04/27/how-to-spot-burnout-in-your-pr-team

Walker, M. (2019, November 19). Americans favor mobile devices over desktops and laptops for getting news. Pew Research Center; Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/11/19/americans-favor-mobile-devices-over-desktops-and-laptops-for-getting-news/