SOUTHFIELD ? Informal networking and a panel discussion were the format last week at the monthly meeting of the Detroit Chapter of the Association for Women in Communication that focused on the changing media landscape wrought by new digital tools ushered in by the Internet age.

Women and men with a wide spectrum of journalistic experience attended, providing multiple conversations around job current opportunities and challenges in the electronic, video and print journalism this year. While some women were retired television journalists, others were relatively new online and print media writers.

All came to hear about the rapid change of pace in technology that has been transforming the media landscape. These changes also were the focus of the panel discussion held in the CBS studios where one panel member, Emmy Award-winning journalist Carol Cain, records the show Michigan Matters.

Also on the panel was Debbie Kenyon, who serves as Senior Vice President and marketing manager for CBS Detroit Radio and also runs six stations in the CBS family. The third panelist was Christy Strawser of CBS Digital who manages the new media staff as well as other aspects of the Internet news efforts.

The varied experiences of each panelist provided evidence of the changes ushered in by mobile and social media. The one constant from the old world is competition in the media world remains about delivering maximum impressions to attract advertisers, which still means implementing a solid and comprehensive media plan remains critical.

In today?s world digital communications engulfs us 24/7. The fragmentation of the audience means news channels and content providers must target outlets based on the interests of the unique audience they seek to capture.

This immersive media environment also generates huge amounts of data from the readers, viewers and listeners? experiences. This so-called big data is mined by tools like Google Analytics that can break down statistics and provide meaningful insights into what the audiences want and the most effective ways to reach them providing better tools to evaluate and measure success in our digital media world.

Regardless of the media type, one thing was clear through this session – content remains king. The medium doesn?t matter as much as the content it provides. The quality and depth of the content is what attracts the audience that attracts the advertisers that pay for the content production.

The panel discussion moved through the changes in technology by generation and allowed for time for questions and answers with the audience. Cain reminded the audience that when they are working on a story, always question what you include. Her advice was ?when in doubt, throw it out.? She also advised that before you move forward with a story to know what you want to get out of it.

The event was open to both men and women. However, since the nature of the hosting organization was targeted towards women, who made up the vast majority of the audience. AWT caters to a wide spectrum of media areas from print to marketing.

With the new relationship from networking and considerations from the panel, many women left the studio prepared to continue developing media in this brave new digital world.

In October, the Association for Women in Media will hold a healthcare oriented panel called ?Taking the Pulse of Healthcare.? For more information, Click on womcomdetroit.org

Associate Editor Nicole Johnson leads MITechNews.Com?s efforts to foster STEM education, as well as provides coverage for her fellow women in computing. If you have a story idea for Nicole, email [email protected] Follow Nicole on Twitter: @tech_nicole