First aired on September 8, 1986, nationally syndicated talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show (O) became a PR phenomenon, granting anyone who appears on it, instant fame and notoriety. It became known for its “Oprah Effect,” since it could turn the everyday into overnight sensations.

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore marked a moment in time where filmmakers leveraged the power of film to expose political, economic and social injustices in American society. Accountability became an inevitability for corporations and government.

Princess Diana’s death put the news media on trial as many blamed them for creating the market and incentive that led to her death. Amidst the wall-to-wall coverage, media was put in the dichotomous position of reporting a story of which they had to become a part.

The world’s largest soda brands face off in a battle for market share and brand loyalty dividing the country into two distinct groups of rival soda drinkers. The cola wars brought consumer engagement to a new level as brand choice was viewed as a lifestyle decision.

First to register in 1985, was Symbolics, Inc. By 1997, there were 1,000,000 .coms. Still widely used, its speedy early adoption ushered in an era of instant global communications, catapulting the Information Age.

Live car chases would become an international phenomenon after the slow-speed chase of OJ Simpson in 1994, which captivated national viewers. But over the next decade, declining viewer interest resulted in decreased coverage of car chases by local news.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 is a textbook example of a major PR crisis communication failure. With no effective systems in place to respond responsibly in the face of the environmental disaster that ensued, Exxon’s delayed response damaged their reputation for years to come.

The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 not only paved the way for German re-unification, but also broke the devastating communication barrier that had been in place since 1961 and led the way for what would soon be the opening up of communications with the entire Eastern bloc.

Dan Rather, anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, steps down after his report about President Bush’s National Guard service proved to be falsified and erroneous. The network’s failure to verify documents damaged his journalistic credibility.

The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 not only paved the way for German re-unification, but also broke the devastating communication barrier that had been in place since 1961 and led the way for what would soon be the opening up of communications with the entire Eastern bloc.

"Weblog," was first coined by Jorn Barger on December 17, 1997, and named two years later, as "blog," by Peter Merholz. The form led the way for corporations, individuals and organizations to become content creators and initiated the era of consumer generated media.

The most devastating attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor, created a massive, immediate, public demand for ‘real time information’ never before seen by modern news organization, triggering the news ticker as a supplement to the on-air broadcast. Social media would eventually fill the ‘real time’ news void.

An FCC investigation that revealed widespread use of sponsored news segments by broadcast stations nationwide, implicated some corporations, PR firms and even the Bush Administration as culprits in distributing packaged new segments as legitimate news, tightening standards and mandates for full disclosure.

Time magazine’s choice for Person of the Year in 2006 was – YOU, acknowledging the millions of anonymous contributors of user-generated online content, which marked a shift in how we communicate -- a turning point in what was viewed as trusted information from trusted sources -- our friends, family and influencers.

CNN’s ongoing live coverage of Desert Storm set a new precedent for war time reporting and news consumption, delivering instantaneous information to the public. More than a decade later, war time journalism evolved to include embedded journalists, who delivered first person accounts of the invasion of Baghdad as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003.

Numbering over 70 million and spending over 200 billion dollars annually, Gen Y has changed the playing field for marketers. Immune to traditional marketing tactics, marketers had to reinvent themselves in order to reach the Gen-Y target, effectively flipping the marketing equation in just a few years.

From the fax machine through instant global satellite communication, the velocity of real-time information has made a tremendous impact on consumer consumption of information, historically unparalleled. Distance is no longer a barrier to communication.

The recent upsurge of entertainment news is changing how viewers consume media. Satirists like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and comedians such as Bill Maher and Dennis Miller have created new segments of news consumption, based upon engaging audiences through comedy.

A scantily clad, pregnant Demi Moore on the cover of Vanity Fair was heralded as opening the door for women to feel sexy while pregnant, shepherding in a societal change.

On October 7, 1996 the Fox News Channel emerged as a news channel different from most, in that its use of graphics and on-screen text summarizing the position of the interviewer or speaker and "bullet points" when a host was giving commentary, paved the way for the rise and increased prominence of “the on-air political pundit” as a source of news.On October 7, 1996 the Fox News Channel emerged as a news channel different from most, in that its use of graphics and on-screen text summarizing the position of the interviewer or speaker and "bullet points" when a host was giving commentary, paved the way for the rise and increased prominence of “the on-air political pundit” as a source of news.

In the 80s and 90s new tactics for product launches unfurled that ignited consumer’s interest to such a feverish pitch that it resulted in crazed consumer behaviors, elevating such products as Tickle Me Elmo, Windows ’95, Cabbage Patch Dolls and Beanie Babies, to ‘must have or die’ status.

With a shot sent across the bow of traditional media, Seattle became a one-paper town overnight when, in the face of dwindling advertising dollars and the popularity of online news, the Post-Intelligencer, stopped the presses after 146 years and moved online in 2009.

The advertiser-driven serial comedies and dramas on television have quickly been replaced by soap dramas starring real people, elevating amateur-level entertainment to network entertainment and driving scripted entertainment on a downward trend.

Introduction of this technology seemed to be a watershed moment. Mosaic was the first to apply HTML and create a hyper-linked format to online information.