For most of the 20th Century there has been a symbiotic relationship between political leaders and powerful journalists.

The role of mainstream broadcast media as the mouthpiece of democratic society meant that influencing what came out of it was the number one priority for anybody in government working in strategic communication.

Those days are over.

We now live in a world where the consumption of news via social media is beginning to eclipse the old legacy channels. Netflix and YouTube are competing for screentime in our living rooms. Podcasts are chosen for the commute. Scrolling on social media exposes us to more sources and perspectives than flicking through a newspaper ever could.

In September 2000 the now extinct video rental superstore Blockbuster turned down the chance to buy Netflix for just $50million. They either couldn’t see where things were headed or didn’t want to accept the uncomfortable truth.

We can’t afford for governments to think like Blockbuster.

There is a reluctance in many institutions to accept the pace of change and the direction of travel. Social media is often seen as a poor cousin, where no matter how big the numbers, there’s a perception that what happens on these platforms is somehow less relevant, less substantial and less valuable. It’s not.

It’s essential for democratic institutions to invest time and resources into building their audiences through new channels but that can’t happen properly in a world where the social kudos of coverage by recognisable media brands carries more weight than the actual impact of getting a message across to many more people via social media.

Minds need to change before teams and titles can.

There are are five trends that are shaping and shaped by modern digital information environments that must be acknowledged and understood in order to arrive at effective communication strategies.

The first is fragmentation. We all get our information in far more places than ever before. It’s not just social media, we are all in multiple group chats and signed up to different newsletters. The ability of digital technology to help us find our niche online means all of us hangout in completely different parts of the digital world. This makes it harder for institutions to reach lots of people at once and it makes it harder for people to arrive at a shared understanding of the world.

The next is disintermediation. The declining power of legacy media is matched in part by the increased power of ‘influencers’ who build audiences around specific topics. These aren’t always individuals but can be groups of people working to deliver podcasts and You Tube channels. Reaching target audiences increasingly involves having an understanding of who is influencing them and it’s often not traditional media. The amount of conversation around the influence of Joe Rogan’s podcast on US politics illustrates this well.

The third is contested reality. Contemporary challenges around misinformation and disinformation are widely recognised. Whilst it’s human nature to have different takes and perspectives based on the same information, it’s becoming harder and harder to know who or what to believe online. This places a premium on the value of trust.

The fourth is the rapid datafication of our lives. The quantities of data now being captured by companies that want to analyse human behaviour for commercial (and sometimes political) gain keeps increasing. Location, transaction details, contact lists, social posts, even personal hygiene like brushing your teeth, can all be reduced to data. In such a data saturated world, having systems to manage organisational collection and use of data that can inform strategic communication is essential. The more data we have, the better we understand the world. The better we understand the world, the better equipped we are to change it.

Lastly, there is a much reduced role for text in the creation and consumption of knowledge. Whilst many organisations still reflexively churn out written reports, it's quite likely that far more people will engage with the content via podcasts (or even social media videos) than ever sit down to read the whole thing. 60% of Gen Z viewers prefer to watch user-generated social video over any other form of content. The demographic changes in consumption are baked into our future. Media platforms are also moving away from text and for most of us this means thinking about how we create and package knowledge differently if we want it to have impact.

So how do government leaders respond to this restructuring in the information environment?

There are three pillars of an effective response.

Improved Monitoring

Understanding what people are thinking and saying about the world around them is a critical part of being able to make informed judgements about how to approach strategic communication. The fragmentation of audiences and rise of newly influential voices requires a shift in how most organisations approach media monitoring towards a set up which properly accounts for the nature of modern public discourse. Many social listening platforms offer an improvement on traditional media monitoring but they are often set up for brands to sell products to consumers rather than institutions working in the realm of ideas and information.

Cultivate Community

With an increased premium on trust the ability of institutions to cultivate a sense of community is critical not only for getting their message across but to be able to develop the kind of collaboration that modern citizens increasingly expect. This requires thinking about how to use less broadcast-centric channels of communication and investing in the ability of teams to engage with relevant communities on a rolling basis.

Authentic Innovation

Authenticity is a priceless currency in the modern digital information environments but the risk-averse and administratively burdensome nature of many bureaucracies makes this hard for government leaders to demonstrate. Even where an awareness exists of the need to try different styles of communication the end result can feel a little stage managed. Other times there’s a recognition of the importance of more social media content but leaders ask ‘where do we find the right voices’. Those voices almost always already exist in the organisations we work for, we just need to find ways to give them a platform. One of the truisms of social media is that you won’t know if it works until you try. Things that feel less than perfect can sometimes be the perfect solution.

Across all of these areas there is a major role that artificial intelligence can play in aiding innovation. This is the focus of the next article in this series which looks at the implications of emerging AI technologies from the big picture to the daily detail.