By Victoria Barker

JOURNALISTS and bloggers faced off to discuss the relevance of theirmedia platforms recently.

The conclusion? New Media platforms like blogs, Facebook and Twitter may be all the rage now but traditional media can - and will - continue to thrive, said media professionals.

This was the general sentiment at an animated panel discussion organised by Ogilvy Public Relations' media arm, 360 Digital Influence, last Thursday.

Panellists included US blogger and award-winning former journalist Thomas Crampton, Singapore Press Holdings' digital- media head, Mr Felix Soh, and former Straits Times journalist Arti Mulchand.

Among the issues raised was the relevance of traditional media, such as newspapers, in the world today.

Mr Daryl Tay, author of media blog uniquefrequency.com, was a strong advocate of New Media platforms.

He said: "I challenge parents, or anyone who has children growing up in this generation, to say that their kids wake up in the morning and pick up the newspaper.

"But (when it comes to) what someone posts on Facebook, or texts or tweets, that is what they pay attention to."

But how credible is the content posted on such platforms?

Mr Crampton, who is also the Asia-Pacific director of Digital Influence at Ogilvy, said: "Twitter is the largest and fastest rumour mill."

In contrast, traditional media relies on the verification of facts and accuracy of information.

He added that New Media is "anti-society".

"Traditional media is more mass media and mainstream, while social media is more niche," he said.

"The problem with this is the loss of serendipity."

The bottom line, though, is that both must learn to exist side by side and draw on each others strengths.

Blogger Lucian Teo, 32, a Web-management director who attended the conference, said: "Whichever outlet we use, be it new or traditional media, it all boils down to good stories that deserve to be heard."

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