Jon Harmon, Director of Communications Strategy at Ford Motor Company, wrote two very interesting entries on his personal blog Force for Good about the Future of newspapers and other media.

The first part of the debate focuses on the future of newspapers and the second part is a short analysis of the latest online visual comunnication trends. Inspired by John Naisbitt’s comments at last week’s Digital Life Design Conference in Münich, Harmon really “disects” ideas and opinions. Notable are his comments on the role of citizen-generated media (highlighted by Dr. Georg Kolb) and the general idea that comes out of both of these entries:

The power of visuals lies in the emotional connection to the human. When we add visual elements, they should add to the emotional intelligence of the piece, complementing the mostly intellectual value of the text.

Together, words and visuals can tell a richer story.

Harmon’s blog title gave me another idea, but I will not reveal it just yet. The foundation of this idea is: PR officers should be a “Force for Good”. And the pen is indeed mightier!

Let’s see how mighty, shall we?