Public Affairs (News) Goes Digital

Our industry’s (UK based) trade rag PA News – “essential reading for lobbyists” – proudly announces today by email that it has gone digital. Alas, a mouse click later here and we find that all that this venerable publication has done is place its print copy in a e-magazine format online. It would appear that the public affairs industry is still to learn that simply putting content online that would have otherwise been in ink (and charging for it) is not what it is all about.

Now forgive us if you feel we are being harsh (and perhaps we are, as this may be but the first step for PA News), but it feels like a missed opportunity. At a time when there is lively debate about public affairs, elections on the horizon and a game changing moment in the way the world regulates, what the profession could do with more online places for news, expert views and the active sharing of ideas. While PA News sleeps there are perhaps opportunities for newcomers like publicaffairsworld.com to bridge the PA digital divide.

James