An article by journalist Anthony Hilton in PR Week a couple of weeks ago has really got me thinking. Anthony despairs at the fact that companies and agencies waste money surveying journalists in an effort to better understand their needs.

I’m paraphrasing here, but his broad view is that the time is wasted because, in general, PR people have little understanding of modern journalism – generalists have replaced specialists and the ‘now news’ culture means a journalist rarely knows from one hour to the next what he or she might be writing about.

A journalist might be an expert on a subject for three paragraphs, but the knowledge acquired in researching this story may be forgotten once he has moved on to the next subject. One particularly memorable line from Anthony's article is that a journalist is ‘unlikely to remember anything that can be looked up when needed’.

I understand where he is coming from: it must be frustrating to be asked continually for insight, often with questions that don’t relate to the reality of the job. One thing I would say in favour of these surveys (not that we’ve ever done one) is that if the results highlight the key points made above – and help educate the company concerned – perhaps the time hasn’t been wasted by either party.

But that’s not really what I’ve been pondering. I’ve been thinking about the implication in Anthony's article that specialist journalists are a dying breed and that, by necessity, all journalists are becoming generalists. This probably isn't such an issue for trade and technical journalists, but with declining ad revenue, we regularly hear about the demise of traditional print news media.

If the shift to online communications overall is affecting traditional journalism – and ultimately creating a generation of ‘generalists’ – how does that tally with the increasingly targeted, direct interaction with customers that social media brings?

In our experience, our deep knowledge of the areas we work in has become more relevant than ever, as technology has enabled us to communicate very targeted messages to ever more tightly defined audiences.

Perhaps there is an opportunity for all of us – journalists, PR agencies and others – to focus even more on our own specific areas of expertise, enabling all of us to better communicate with the particular audiences we are hoping to reach?

I realise there are all kinds of pitfalls with journalists becoming too specialist. Your thoughts and insights would be very welcome.