headermask image

header image

Yes: Kill the Press Releases, Please!

As I expected, a lot of people (mainly from the world of PR and from press release distribution services) are vehemently disagreeing with my earlier missive: Let’s Put Press Releases Out of Their Misery.

I’m slammed right at the moment so can’t reply to all of these people in detail. (Sorry.) However, I did summarize my counterarguments to their claims in a comment to this posting from the weblog of Newsmotto, a press release distribution service…

Here’s what I wrote:

Hi, Santoshkumar

Thanks for your article. A couple of minor corrections. First of all, my last name is spelled “Gahran.” Second of all, I am most definitely female :-)

…I know lots of people disagree with me and continue to cling to the press release format. I can understand that. It’s familiar. It’s comfortable for PR people. It’s an easy, obvious thing for PR people to bill clients for.

Also, many journalists continue to ask for press releases – not, I’ve learned, because of any special attachment to that tired and artificial format, but rather because they just want easy-to-use information.

The main problems with press releases are:

  1. Their format and tone are inherently artificial and hype-oriented.
  2. They reflect a heirarchical model of communication and media which is rapidly being outstripped by the networked model of media. (Picture a bunch of dinosaurs baffled by those pesky little rodents running around underfoot.)
  3. Most journalists hate to read releases and immediately discard the vast majority of them.
  4. Many PR people have told me they hate writing press releases.

Given that, I vote that we all act together to hasten their demise by finding more effective, authentic, and practical ways to communicate with media professionals and the public. I think that would force us to make news-related communications far more productive and effective, and less tedious.

Also, I don’t think that the rare exception of a well-written press release undermines the larger point that this vehicle, as a whole, has outlived its usefulness.

But of course, you’re free to disagree.

– Amy Gahran

If you liked my post, feel free to subscribe to my rss feeds

Money Making Options

Post meta

This entry was written by Amy Gahran and posted on July 18, 2005 at 4:21 pm and filed under Content Style & Business, Media Musings. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Comments are closed, but you can leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

Share with others

Post Yes: Kill the Press Releases, Please! to digg. Post Yes: Kill the Press Releases, Please! to Reddit add to stumbleupon Google Bookmark myweb bookmark on del.cio.us newsvine Tailrank magnolia Furl co.mments shadows simpy blinklist

6 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

  1. I have heard your comments at several recent events on this subject. One thing
    that you leave out is how this applies to public companies. Blogs and these new
    forms of media will not satisfy the shareholders that they must report to. I also think
    that we are still at an early stage in the game to think that blogs are as influential as
    the folks in your circle believe. These new media forms vary by industry and even by region.
    In San Francisco, we tracked blogs as closely as we tracked articles but in Colorado, it is
    a strategy that a lot of companies are resistant to. The comment that “this is an easy thing to
    bill clients for” is false in most cases. A press release goes through so many channels of approval
    that it usually absorbs a good amount of budget. A good PR person understands that releases rarely fuel good media.
    We are the ones that are fighting against press releases for all news ideas. I also agree with a previous poster that
    there is an appropriate channel for every piece of news. Sometimes a press release is the only way to get a partner on board because of the ability to control the message. But the press release is by no means a PR person’s friend. I personally hate them. Another point is that clients insist on these traditional methods. Even the most savvy companies won’t remove themselves from the press release game. This debate is one that will continue for quite some time.

    [Reply]

    1. Melissa on July 21st, 2005 at 1:44 am
  2. Death Knell for the Press Release
    Is the press release dead? There’s a lot of talk about how better to get clients’ messages out, including this post at Contentious by Amy Gahran. We ask the same question here (at least in the background) and I’m sure…

    [Reply]

    2. PRspeak on July 19th, 2005 at 7:53 am

  3. Dear Amy, I think that you and Shel both are right. On one side, there is no doubt that new tools (they are jsut tools,
    I would underline it)like blogs and RSS offer very effective alternatives to press relases (and to e-mail newsletters). But
    there is no doubt also that not every content can be “packed” into blogs and RSS.
    Simply we (I’m a PR) have to choose the most suitable “mean of transportation” for the specific content.
    But, and this is key to me, the main point is the quality of the content. I cannot but agree with you Amy, about the
    content you find (in average) in press releases.
    Yes they are too often really artificial and totally hype oriented, and they do
    not offer any real, substantial “story”. We often have to fight (hard) with clients, who think it is so important to
    tell a journalist that thay are “leaders” (can you show me a company that it’s not ??) and that they are
    really “happy” about the last commercial agreement…. But don’t worry, on my side I keep on fighting.

    [Reply]

    3. Enrico Bianchessi on July 19th, 2005 at 5:40 am

  4. Thanks Shel. As always, I value and respect your perspective.

    I never said that blogs alone will replace press releases. Rather, I believe that blogs and a variety of other types of content will — and should — replace press releases. And the sooner the better, because most press releases are a colossal waste of time, effort, and attention all the way around.

    Should there still be “push” vehicles to disseminate information to media professionals and the public? Of course. Regulatory mandates are only part of the issue driving that. Must those vehicles be press releases as we have come to know and hate them? No!

    The same dissemination networks which currently spew meaningless, artificial, hype-ridden press releases could be put to much better use providing more practical and effective types of information which could also satisfy regulatory mandates.

    It just requires PR professionals, mainstream media, regulators and audiences to think realistically for even just a minute about the goals they are trying to achieve. There is no reason to promote form over substance or function. Especially when the form sucks and is notoriously ineffective most of the time.

    In my humble opinion, of course ;-)

    - Amy Gahran

    [Reply]

    4. Amy Gahran on July 18th, 2005 at 7:23 pm

  5. It’s becoming a litany for me: New media don’t kill old media. Old media adapt.

    So it will be with press releases. Yes, new media (blogs, notably) can eventually replace MANY press releases, but not all of them. Consider the blogs require a PULL; press releases are PUSHED. The principal releases that will survive are the material disclosure releases. Mandated (in the US) by the SEC, these MUST get into the hands of the financial marketplace concurrently. Press release distribution services assure regulatory compliance. Blogs cannot. Hence, there always will be some form of press release. Its use will simply be more limited.

    [Reply]

    5. Shel Holtz on July 18th, 2005 at 7:11 pm
  6. Killing the Press Release
    There’s a movement underway to kill off the press release. Some folks can’t wait for the release to hasten its own demise. Others feel like the problem is that too many folks write bad releases. Here’s my own checklist

    [Reply]

    6. spinme.com on July 18th, 2005 at 5:44 pm