With the purchase of The Washington Post by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, right after fellow Billionaire John Henry bought The Boston Globe, the changes in media stand to be immense. And with the billionaire Koch Brothers reportedly in negotiations to buy The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, clearly the media landscape has entered a new era. And each of these newspapers have little vision to make money – and are hemorrhaging cash. Owning a top 20 Public Relations Agency, as I wrote in my book. “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations” I say that “This brave new world of information dissemination is unfortunate for the many great old-school journalists out there.”… and as I say media will increasingly morph towards “what happens in Europe, Russia, Latin America, and many other countries in the world, where the wealthiest people own media to serve their purposes.” “The United States has an advantage in that the ruling class doesn’t have as much unrestricted power as it does in other countries. As long as average people have access to publishing, printing, and broadcasting, inde-pendent voices can and will be heard. No matter how reporting and technology changes the way news is delivered, news and feature stories will continue to be written, and readers will continue to look for information—and they know how to find it. The digital world means they can bring their own utensils and dig in.” (Ronn Torossian, 2011, p. 126-127) Getting positive media coverage is increasingly difficult and will not become any easier. Trying to build a brand today is like giving a speech in a concert hall while the New York Philharmonic is playing Beethoven. A couple of people on the sidelines might notice you, but can they actually hear what you’re saying?

With the purchase of The Washington Post by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, right after fellow Billionaire John Henry bought The Boston Globe, the changes in media stand to be immense. And with the billionaire Koch Brothers reportedly in negotiations to buy The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, clearly the media landscape has entered a new era. And each of these newspapers have little vision to make money – and are hemorrhaging cash. Owning a top 20 Public Relations Agency, as I wrote in my book. “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations” I say that “This brave new world of information dissemination is unfortunate for the many great old-school journalists out there.”… and as I say media will increasingly morph towards “what happens in Europe, Russia, Latin America, and many other countries in the world, where the wealthiest people own media to serve their purposes.” “The United States has an advantage in that the ruling class doesn’t have as much unrestricted power as it does in other countries. As long as average people have access to publishing, printing, and broadcasting, inde-pendent voices can and will be heard. No matter how reporting and technology changes the way news is delivered, news and feature stories will continue to be written, and readers will continue to look for information—and they know how to find it. The digital world means they can bring their own utensils and dig in.” (Ronn Torossian, 2011, p. 126-127) Getting positive media coverage is increasingly difficult and will not become any easier. Trying to build a brand today is like giving a speech in a concert hall while the New York Philharmonic is playing Beethoven. A couple of people on the sidelines might notice you, but can they actually hear what you’re saying?
Ronn Torossian is Founder and Chairman of 5W, one of the largest independently owned public relations and digital marketing firms in the United States. Under his leadership, 5W is the AI Communications Firm — building the category around generative engine optimization (GEO), AI search visibility, and how brands earn presence inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews.
Torossian founded 5W in 2003 and has scaled it across consumer, technology, financial services, healthcare, beauty, gaming, and crisis communications practices. 5W's research franchise — the AI Visibility Index Series, The GEO Reckoning, and The Missing Rung Report — has become the industry reference for measuring brand visibility inside AI-generated answers.
He is one of the country's foremost crisis communications experts and the author of For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations.
5wpr.com | 5W Research | ronntorossian.com
Work with 5W
5W is the AI Communications Firm, building brand authority across the platforms where decisions now happen — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — alongside earned media, digital, GEO, and influencer channels. www.5wpr.com
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