There has been plenty of discussion on Measurement Matters in recent months, much of which has explored the ever-changing media landscape and the emergence of consumer generated media. Jeff Jarvis at Buzz Machine has recently undertaken the task of summing up of these shifts in attitude and behaviour. Particularly useful is his use of simple, direct charts to show the evolution of the 'news' from the traditional press to what he describes as the "press-sphere".

There are a number of graphs in his article but two of them resonated strongly. They illustrate the shift from a 'top down' press model, in which we the reader were told things and that was it (save for those eager souls who insited on writing letters to the editor, which then may or may not have been printed). 

In his summation Jarvis hits on the key point as it relates to the world of media analysis and PR. There are "fundamental shifts in how news and the world around it is constructed. It’s bigger now. It’s more complex. It moves over time. It’s more about process than product. It has no limit of sources and handlers and distributors and curators and perspectives...When we rethink this ecology of news, we’ll be in a better position to plan for what’s next".  And therein lie the golden rules: Think and Plan.