I'm up late playing catch up and just read something from Mike Manuel that struck a chord for me.

As a PR person who focuses on the emerging media arena to service all existing agency clients and client prospects, I see how critical it is to maintain the Brand champion POV and focus on the fundamentals of PR.

The numbers and viewership for emerging media vehicles can be exciting. For years we wondered what happened to TV viewing audiences as they dropped lower and lower. We are finally finding those audiences on other screens and hearing their demands for how they want their content.

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of new vehicles or tactics and lose sight of the fundamentals. PR comes down to generating NEWs. It's not just how we serve it up but more importantly, what we choose to serve, in order for today's consumer to take a bite.

It's good news and bad news for both ends of the PR industry. The need for senior level counsel and strategic thinking isn't going away; experienced professionals must still lead planning and management. That said, mid-level to junior staffers and new grads have enormous, valuable contributions to bring to the PR business. They bring the knowledge of the new tools in our toolbox.

I know we all say it and hear it all the time, but at the risk of sounding cliche, I'll say it again. Today is a golden age for PR. At time when we truly function in our capacity and relate to the public, vis a vis how they want to reached, on behalf of our clients. After a long period when advertising and controlled messaging ruled mainstream media, the tables have turned and PR has the power to influence the new gatekeeper to consumers - consumer generated media.

I think it's exciting. It may require an enormous amount of work, however the opportunity to be a pioneer and establish new models for our business is riper than ever.