My first post on our new blog will be a long one. The longest I ever plan to write. So please bear with me, but hopefully it will be worth your while.

That being said, like most men of my father’s generation, when I was growing up he consumed news and information in two primary ways: reading the Washington Post in the morning, and at night, watched the “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.”

The Post and Cronkite told him what he needed to know, and to a degree, that was the “Word of God” to him, as well as to most others. Nearly 40 years later, consumer media consumption habits, along with the media world as a whole, are nearly unrecognizable and continue to change at breakneck speed.

Cronkite and his breed of divinely mustached anchorman are long-gone, and so are many of the viewers of the national evening network newscasts. This includes my dad, who despite nearing 70, rarely makes it home from work in time to catch the news.

The Post is also no longer the same, and for that matter, neither is any other newspaper where bankruptcy is becoming the new “black.” In Detroit they’ve limited home delivery, the Rocky Mountain News closed, Seattle’s a one newspaper town now, and the beat goes on. The newspaper’s that are staying afloat are treading water by walking many of their fine reporters out the door, and those journalists who are managing to hang on are either “untouchables,” have embraced the blogosphere, began their careers in online reporting roles, or are writing for purely for the online side of the shop.

These changes, however, are just the beginning. The question for those in media and the professions lurking in the shadows is: “What’s really going on and how can it be leveraged?” Not to mention, especially in this economy.

As for why this has all occurred, look no further than your personal computer at work. It has, in essence, ruined media for the old-schoolers. You just might still hear some radio on the way to work, unless you are a Millennial, in which case you listen to your iPod at all times. But once you get to work you have all of the access you need through your PC, as well as what’s becoming the $100 laptop – the iPhone or Blackberry – to find news and information, engage and chat inside online communities that discuss sports or partisan politics or mustaches, watch and comment on YouTube videos, post pictures to Flickr, chat on Facebook, and more.

So why read the paper in the morning? And by the time you get home from work, after consuming information all day, are you craving Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson or Katie Couric? Not really. And advertisers are continuing to move budgets to online mediums. Just ask the people at Skittles.

Ironically, the deflating economy and job losses have actually provided network evening newscasts with a temporary reprieve. Layoffs mean more potential viewers at home, not working late.

But this sea change has created a vicious cycle: news consumers young and old flock online, advertisers react, revenues dry up in traditional media, there are fewer dollars for traditional reporting, and thus good reporters are on the streets.

Indeed, the marketers and PR folks who are awake are now seeing far less value in traditional media, as fewer people will see or hear it. Consider this recent data from Pew Research:

• Eighty percent of Americans agree with the statement, “There are so many ways to get the news these days that I don’t worry when I don’t have a chance to read the paper or when I miss my regular news program.”
• While 39.6 percent of Americans name broadcast television as their primary source of news, only 7.7 percent watch broadcast television network news on an average night. And the total audience for broadcast network evening news is less than half of what it was 25 years ago and the average viewer age is up to 60.
• Total newspaper readership is the lowest since 1946 while the U.S. population has more than doubled in that time. Forty-eight percent of Americans born before 1946 read a print newspaper, while just 15 percent of those born since 1965 read one.
• In total, 39 percent of Americans read a newspaper in print or online, down from 43 percent in 2006. But of those who read news online, only 7 percent said they most frequently went to their local newspaper’s Website most often for news.

Then consider Pew data saying 28 percent of Americans first get their news from Yahoo.com and 19 percent from MSN.com versus four percent and two percent from the Web sites of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal respectively – and the patterns are clear.

Not to mention that in January of 2008, Facebook had 50 million users. In April it surpassed 200 million and its fastest growing demographic is women 34-55 (no, we are not just talking about 20-somethings). Oh, yes, and don’t forget that Facebook users spend on average of three hours daily there.

The online “fads,” as someone in corporate marketing recently put it to me, are now mainstream. Facebook is causing addiction problems. The Twitter phenomenon is the story of the day for traditional media. Do you ever watch NEW movies on MegaVideo? Have you made yourself into an M&M or an Elf? Maybe you’ve heard of the American Mustache Institute (who hasn’t)?

And that doesn’t even take into account the immense impact of texting, lifestreams, crowd sourcing, and other forms of digital media that consumers are now using in great volumes.

It’s all very real for all ages, but surprisingly, there are still some in media, advertising, and public relations who cannot or will not accept the new landscape as a reality that will only continue to evolve away from what was traditional media. To steal a line from Bob Dylan, they “know something’s happening but don’t know what it is.”

I recently spoke with a senior, top-level public relations practitioner at one of the world’s leading firms. He asked for my thoughts about a regional economic development client that is trying to lure companies to its region. After suggesting an online approach to him, he responded, “Let me tell you why you couldn’t be more wrong. We need to be in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and USA Today.”

I asked him to imagine he owned a company and told his real estate manager, “It’s time to find a new headquarters town. Get to it!” What does real estate guy do? He puts together a committee, and each member does their due diligence.

Today, where do you do that due diligence? Do you call those hallowed newspapers and ask for 75 back-issues of the real estate section? You search online for most or all of the information needed, as 8.7 billion searches occurred on Google alone in January 2009.

So where does this leave us? If we are to accept this reality, how do we leverage these immense changes?

Reporters: Since there is a good chance your traditional media home may be gone within the next few years, learn how to blog. It’s an entirely different animal in both style and context then the manner in which you are used to reporting. But do it either through your employer or on your own, as it could be a rewarding outlet for all of the material that ends up on your editor’s cutting room floor. Use your blog to not only write the way you’ve always wanted to write and couldn’t, but use it strategically to drive readers to your traditional media pieces that will no doubt be featured online. And embrace quirky stuff. We know the economy is miserable, a new President is in office, energy is volatile, Africa is dangerous, and the world hates America. But never forget the spice of life every once in awhile because consumers are clearly looking for it online.

Marketers: Be honest with your clients that a great paid or earned placement in a leading business magazine or during the evening news does not help them move product or enhance their corporate reputation the way it once did. Do you still need to target placements in traditional media? Yes, as for now it remains part of the pie. But it’s a smaller one of what should be a triangulated effort ranging between bloggers, social media, and traditional. You now need more touch points in more venues to make half the impact you once did. So use some creativity, try to break through the online clutter, and implement a flexible, creative concept – maybe even a bizarre one – to reach an audience wherever they are most comfortable: online, in person, or wherever they may be. It’s about engaging in a meaningful way.

Corporate America: Your target audiences aren’t interested in your messages that are delivered through a one-way monologue. They want a dialogue with you, an engagement. And stop worrying about the blogosphere “hijacking your brand,” as one former operations manager turned Fortune 100 chief marketing officer once told me. Use some creativity and capitalize on the unique opportunities you now have to meaningfully connect on a very direct plane with your target audience through and online medium.

So let me offer apologies to my traditionalist friends in media, or marketing colleagues who like rich narratives, catchy jingles, or zany PR stunts. If you want to make a real impact today – either from the journalism side or the marketer’s dark side of the force – take a realistic look at today’s media landscape, understand that change is real and here to stay, forget the “Word of God,” and give your readers, viewers, listeners and clients what they really want – engagement.