Read PR Week lately?  I don’t mean the online edition—I’m talking about the old-fashioned print version, which now comes out … monthly.    I still read printed material when I can, because it helps me spot things I typically miss on a computer screen.

For example, I caught their piece on corporate press sites in the March 2010 issue (my apologies for not enclosing a link—you need a subscription to read it).  They hold up media sites from Microsoft and GM as examples of a trend: redesigned news rooms aimed not only at professional journalists but also at the general public.

We at CEC have also noticed—and admired—this trend.  Dumping your old press room for a consumer-friendly news room has a number of tangible benefits, such as:

• Reduced newswire expense;
• Reduced staff time handling press/public inquiries; and
• Increased readership of company news.

As one of our more successful members pointed out to me today, “every citizen is a journalist” or at least a potential journalist.  Some bloggers can attract more eyeballs to your story than most traditional media outlets!

But I wonder if the greatest benefit of a redesigned online news room is how it opens up the company to dialogue with the outside world—and what that openness does for the company’s reputation and brand.

We’ve been studying what drives stakeholder support for a company through both interviews and a quantitative survey.  Some findings may not surprise you: for example, active supporters—those who not only have a positive view of the company but actually communicate that positive view to others—are worth a lot more than more passive supporters.  More surprising to me is that the #1 thing a company can do to convert a passive supporter into an active one is to visibly demonstrate its openness to dialogue. Not just to be open—to be seen as open.

A news room can’t achieve that on its own, but a good one can:

• Make it easy for people in search of company information to find it—and to share it with others
• Simplify the act of sending questions, comments, and feedback to the company
• Connect external stakeholders to company staff

A number of leading companies have moved this way: Ford, Cisco, and Intel, to name a few.  We’re always on the prowl for other great examples—whose is your favorite?  And what do you like about it?

CEC members interested in learning more about how to improve their newsroom should read our latest study on the subject, How to Build a Leading Online Newsroom.