You heard the cries that traditional media was dying, that newspapers were doomed and that “real” journalism was no longer practiced—thanks to the fact that anyone with a blog and webcam could pass themselves off as a reporter. But by now, you know the doomsayers were wrong. 
Sure, we’ve certainly seen changes—but they’ve been exciting, promising and even needed. And sure, some traditional mainstream outlets still aren’t keeping up, but others are standing out in their use of social media. These nimble adapters are not only learning to survive in the new media era—they’re thriving in it, and some are even leading the charge when it comes to breaking ground in innovative uses of social media techniques to gather, report, publish and distribute the news. These are the mainstream media outlets featured here (with some surprises added in along the way), to whom we say long live media!

2. 10 Picks for Most Socially
Connected Mainstream Media
Outlets
You heard the cries that traditional media was dying, that newspapers were doomed
and that “real” journalism was no longer practiced—thanks to the fact that anyone
with a blog and webcam could pass themselves off as a reporter. But by now, you
know the doomsayers were wrong.
Sure, we’ve certainly seen changes—but they’ve been exciting, promising and even
needed. And sure, some traditional mainstream outlets still aren’t keeping up, but
others are standing out in their use of social media. These nimble adapters are not only
learning to survive in the new media era—they’re thriving in it, and some are even
leading the charge when it comes to breaking ground in innovative uses of social
media techniques to gather, report, publish and distribute the news.
These are the mainstream media outlets featured here (with some surprises added in
along the way), to whom we say long live media!

3. 1. The New York Times
Big Apple Common Sense
The New York Times, a traditional bastion that
is truly embracing social, was ranked by a
recent Net Prospex study as the #1 company
with the most social employees. It has long
offered an iPhone app and now enjoys over
three million Twitter followers. The paper has
leaned on the traditional broadcast model in
its engagement more than we prefer, but
newly installed Social Media Editor Liz Heron
recognized this failing and is working to fix it.
The NYT also has a social media policy that
caught our eye. It’s simple and based on
common sense: “Don’t be stupid.” This policy
is one big reason we are featuring the NYT.
All great social connectors have a solid policy
in place that is practical and impactful. This
one scores big with us.
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

4. 2. The Los Angeles Times
More Than Just a Pretty Hollywood Face
Social media is a conversation and is at its best
when the audience can pick its channel of
choice for engaging in that conversation. At the
Los Angeles Times, for example, fans can pick
from over 200 of the newspaper’s accounts on
Twitter, an iPhone app, and even a tweet stream
aggregation account.
The clincher that sealed the outlet’s inclusion
here came when we clicked on the site given on
its @LATimes main Twitter account. The URL
took us to a custom landing page listing all its
Twitter accounts and an overview of the news
that each account covered. It didn’t dump us
into the paper’s main URL or make us switch to
another channel to keep communicating. It
highlighted more Twitter connection points.
Bravo to the LA Times for keeping the
conversation going and honoring channel
choices!
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

5. 3. Discovery Channel
Shark Week Takes a Bite Out of Social Media
The Discovery Channel is the number one
non-fiction media company in the world. Its
fans are engaged and incredibly loyal.
Impressively, Discovery owns over 70
Facebook pages with a fan footprint of 43
million, adding 500,000 per week. The
company also has over 20 Twitter accounts
with a following of 2.4 million.
The interplay of personal stories, talent, art,
and science is the real star when it comes to
Discovery’s social presence. Social media
engagement is integrated into everything
Discovery does, instead of being tacked on as
a promotional afterthought. Videos, original
content, related third-party content, and big
personalities are all part of Discovery’s social
success. The company has taken a big bite out
of the social media world and earned our
respect as a result!
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

6. 4. Disney
The Magic Kingdom Goes Social
Disney, a worldwide media leader, is
listening to the consumer in a big way. It’s
building multiple channel networks and
taking what Duncan Wardle, VP, Creative
Inc., Walt Disney Co., calls a “smart risk.”
Wardle’s view about companies using social
media sums up Disney’s position well: “Are
you ready to accept advice? Are you ready to
accept input? Are you ready to act on it? If
not, you’re better off not doing it.”
Disney’s Mom’s Panel and newly acquired
Togetherville, a social network for kids
under 10, are great examples of this
community approach in action. It’s easy to
see that open engagement is here to stay for
Disney.
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

7. 5. The Times of India
Where Sharing Is Caring
The Times of India, founded in 1838, is
India’s most read English newspaper and
the world’s largest-selling English language
newspaper. With 180,000 Twitter followers
and approximately 1.4 million Facebook
fans, it’s making its mark in social media
both with sheer numbers and fan
participation.
Just take a look at its Facebook fan page.
Nearly every story has dozens, often
hundreds, of comments. The outlet’s share
level is through the roof, too! Whether it’s
the company’s 3 million+ daily circulation
fan base or news quality, it’s clearly doing
something right. Sharing is caring in social
media and from the look of it, lots of
people care about the Times of India.
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

8. 6. Mashable
Aggregation Web 2.0
This choice might be controversial since it’s
not a “traditional-turned-social” media story.
But we didn’t want legacy and circulation to
be the only lenses through which we viewed
what’s working. We also didn’t want to ignore
the rise of aggregation sites in media and
journalism. To that end, meet Mashable.
Mashable.com is an independent news site
that garners 50 million page views and 14
million unique visitors monthly. With a
Facebook fan base of 607,000+ and a Twitter
following of 2.4 million, hundreds of
thousands of fans share and spread the site’s
content every day. It’s entire business model is
based on social media. With that kind of
coverage, we had to give them a tip of the
hat, regardless of where they fit on the media
timeline.
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

9. 7. Hearst Digital Media
Growing by Going Mobile
When it came to selecting a magazine
media company, we admit that we
struggled. Like many media sectors,
magazines have been hard hit by the
shifting ad revenue landscape. We liked
Hearst because of its focus on brand
development and commitment to adjusting
to the new media environment.
The numbers are pretty impressive: Hearst
Digital boasts 24 power brands, 21 million
unique visitors, 3 million fans/followers, 11
mobile sites, and 14 magazine titles. We
gave the organization bonus points for its
recent announcement that it has converted
its sites to HTML-5, which is iPad
compatible. That conversion is complicated
and expensive, but it’s also a timely way to
be on the leading edge!
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

10. 8. Journal Register Company
Innovator of the Year
Welcome to the open newsroom, as brought
to you by the AP Managing Editors’ 2011
“Innovator of the Year.” The Journal Register
Co. is taking quantum leaps forward using
crowd and cloud resources to make news.
Launched in December 2010, JRC’s
newsroom includes a Newsroom Café, open
archives, free public Wi-Fi, a Community
Media Lab with workstations for local
bloggers, and a community meeting space
and classroom. The organization’s staff
livestreams daily editorial meetings to foster
audience participation and engagement. Its
social media streams are not yet well-
populated, but its groundbreaking approach to
local news (through 350 multi-platform
channels) is the epitome of social. The Journal
Register is one to keep your eye on!
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

11. 9. ProPublica.com
Pulitzer Prize Winning Service Journalism
ProPublica is an independent, non-profit
newsroom that produces investigative
journalism in the public interest. The
organization makes our list because it’s the
first online-only newspaper to be awarded a
Pulitzer Prize. It was birthed online and lives
by the principles of open source journalism.
ProPublica’s list of awards is impressive. The
quality of the organization’s work and
systematic social focus is enough to make
even those journalists who think “real
reporting” has gone by the wayside take
notice. We give it high marks for keeping the
quality in media while leveraging the new
social ethos. This is the face of the future and
we are happy to see it.
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

12. 10. BBC
Honest About the Past and the Future
The British Broadcasting Co. is another
legacy company that has embraced social
media with full intention. We like how freely
it admits the challenges of social media. Yes,
honesty is one of the currencies of social
media and the BBC comes clean better than
nearly any other media company.
The BBC has experienced rapid social media
growth (from .6 to 1.4 million Twitter
followers in a year, for example)—yet it also
acknowledges that its traditional TV
newscasts still reign supreme. The company
is investing heavily in social media while
keeping its feet firmly planted in its core
competencies. This blend of the past and
future is real, transparent, and we like it. Join
BBC World News’ 1.2 million Facebook fans
by “liking” it, too!
10 Picks for Most Socially Connected
Mainstream Media Outlets

13. 10 Picks for Most Socially
Connected Mainstream Media
Outlets
TRADITION MEETS INNOVATION ...
Many media outlets listed here might defy your traditional view of “best.” For
us, social connection is all about the community and the fans. It would be
easy to dismiss the grassroots or smaller regional outlets as not in the same
league as those listed here, but we recommend caution in that line of
thinking.
Crowd-sourcing, citizen journalism, and high levels of transparency and
sharing are breaking down longstanding barriers. The media is changing
rapidly and we hope some of the examples here can serve as guideposts for
exciting new ways that others can not only survive—but also thrive—in this
shifting online landscape. Long live media!

14. 10 Picks for Most Socially
Connected Mainstream Media
Outlets
Next on “The Pulse”:
"Show Me the Money: 10 Leading Cities for PR Salaries”
We’ll feature our picks of best cities for PR and communications
compensation.
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