This is a continuation of an earlier post. . .

I spoke with Jonathan Bock, President of Grace Hill Media, a Hollywood PR firm that works with faith-based media entities and journalists to get them greater and more advanced access to screenings of mainstream Hollywood movies, interviews with producers and actors, and other publicity-related resource material. According to Bock, his is the first such agency to attempt to give this kind of access to religiously-affiliated media outlets.

He is actively seeking bloggers who write about movies and television, and not necessarily just those who do so from a faith-based perspective.

When I asked him why bloggers, he said, "To me, bloggers are just as legitimate to pitch projects to as radio hosts." In fact, he sees bloggers as being analogous to radio talk-show hosts. In fact, he says blogs are better. A radio host mentions seeing a particular movie, recommends it, then moves on to another subject. That's it. End of story. Blogs have permanence, and they provide links to movie trailers, press releases and news stories about the projects.

One of the things that attracted Bock to blogs is the direction he sees them taking, moving away from "mere opinion" and more toward, in his words, "seeking the truth." He said that the fastest growing blogs are those that "seek truth."

I asked if he felt pitching film and television projects to bloggers was a trend. He responded by saying that, so far as he knew, Grace Hill was the first PR firm to do so in any concerted way. IMO, Bock seems to be a trend-setter, so it would not surprise me if more firms picked up on this strategy.

I asked in the earlier post if this was yet another indication that mass media (Big Media) is losing its foothold on distribution of news/opinion. A fellow blogger commented on that post and what he says certainly has relevance here. . .

What's happening is that blogging is bringing the conversational initiative back to the people. It doesn't matter if mainstream media accepts this or not, it'll happen with or without them. . .The conversation wont be back and forth, it will be entangled. Those who keep up with the conversation and get involved in it, will be better informed, having seen many sides of a discussion. People who do not get involved will get left behind. Right now, the mainstream media is being left behind.

If you are a blogger who writes about entertainment media, pop culture, or movies and TV in general, Bock welcomes your contact. Who knows, you might just get invited to the next press junket for a major Hollywood film, at the studio's expense no less. And if you go, send me a postcard! :-)