An online strategic communications tool to improve the way Local Governments manage their community information arrives in Australia early next year. And that will be good news for council PR professionals already finding themselves working harder than ever.
A keynote presentation at the May 2008 Australian Local Government Public Relations Association conference noted that councils face a changing communications landscape.
As the economy becomes more globalised, Australians are becoming ‘hyper-local’. Increasingly they are turning to local media, events, new digital tools and council communications to make sense of their immediate world. This demand for local information is growing at the same time that Australia’s media landscape is changing.
The way news is produced and distributed is shifting from a marathon to a sprint as local media, particularly newspapers, move into online publishing.
The ‘communications beast needs feeding more and more’ and that is increasing the pressure on communicators responsible for producing, managing and delivering council content to ratepayers and others. At the same time, tighter budgets mean that councils demand more from their PR outlays.
Since 2001 councils in the UK facing similar pressures have been using Newsflash Express, an around the clock, internet software program, as their ‘media and marketing brain’ to make better use of their communications resources.
Newsflash Express has allowed over 200 British organisations including Local Governments to put all their communication activities, such as campaigns, costs, contacts, media relations, issues management and projects, into a single, accessible place.
The program, which was designed specifically for councils, arrives in Australia early in 2009.
Call Bob Crawshaw on 0401 063 387 for more information.
*Copy supplied by Maine
Street Marketing Canberra
