Virtual Greality: Blogs go hand in hand with transparency. In an age when readers question media credibility, blogs are a way for your hometown newspaper to stand up and be accountable. We?re willing to show you who we are and how we think. We can do our jobs better if you trust us and help us cover our community.
Hidden messages - Is new technology empowering consumers -- or marketers?
Where the old-media system was one-way, today's new media technologies allow consumers to talk back -- and tune out. On Internet message boards and blogs, people can slam products they don't like, celebrate certain brands over others, and help shoppers find the cheapest prices. [...]
Advertisers see these changes as a direct threat to the way they've done business for decades. [...]
New technologies do give consumers unprecedented leverage over the marketplace. It's crucial, however, to realize that marketers are using these same technologies to undermine that leverage, making it harder than ever for audiences to escape, and resist, their advances. [...]
Media firms are creating a new world order in marketing communication to make sure that their messages get through to us -- and in ways that make it increasingly difficult for us to know who the messenger is, whether the message is trustworthy, and whether we're getting the same offer as everyone else.
