Item:  some of our elected representatives were caught tweeting during President Obama’s first big speech to a joint session of Congress.

A day or two later, Jon Stewart neatly captured the effect of new media on how we write when he claimed to have intercepted tweets sent by Obama himself during the address.  The text:  “OMG totally addressing Congress!”

It’s critical that PR embrace new media and take full advantage of the opportunities they offer for efficiency and engagement.  And if that means starting out with a message of 140 characters or less, so be it.

(And if our target audience is ditzy, distracted teens, then we should speak in a language they’ll understand… )

But especially in B2B, it’s also critical that we retain the ability to write in clear, sound English; to understand and interpret highly technical content; and to be credible with audiences and influencers that include editors, scientists and engineers, regulators, consultants and top management.  We still need to communicate clearly and precisely.

Over the years we’ve blamed the erosion in writing skills in PR on various causes, including a greater emphasis on strategy, the appeal of big ideas and events to clients, the increasing influence of broadcast and then digital communications, and even the simple fact that learning to write well is a difficult and never-ending process.

But it’s worth it — when copy flows quickly and easily through the client’s approval loop, when it gets a gatekeeper’s attention, and when it helps a customer clearly understand how the product meets his needs.

Let’s keep working at writing well, folks!  OMG.  Totally.

(Guest contributor Mark Monroe is a senior vice president at Gibbs & Soell Public Relations.)