The Era of New Media Technologies and the Challenges of Media Relations Practice in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the fundamentals of Media Relations, an important aspect of Public Relations, which help to maintain credibility and mutual relationship with the various media of communication in Nigeria in the era of new media technologies. It provided the opportunity to qualitatively ascertain the import of new media technologies in the practice of media relations in Nigeria; establish the various contemporary tools for media relations and to determine the appropriate strategies of media relations. The revelations uphold the claim that new media technologies like the internet, mobile phones, videoconferencing among others which now overlap with the different media of communication due to technological innovations and convergence, have transformed media relations practice globally despite the various factors such as cyber crisis, low level of technology penetration, poor funding among others posing as challenges to effective media relations practice in Nigeria. Thus, the paper supports the theoretical perspective of development media theory and technological determinism theory. A clarion call was therefore put forward to all those directly or indirectly involved in the practice of media relations in Nigeria to merge resources together or separately and be actively involved in ensuring that the transformations brought about by new media technologies in media relations are explored and the entire benefits completely exploited by all the stakeholders in this regard.