Thanks again for continuing this conversation.

First of all, I think any research concerning the efficacy of press releases is inherently invalid because there aren’t enough equally available or viable alternatives at this point. I mean, if you asked people in 1910 which mode of personal transportation they considered most practical and effective, most of them probably would have answered “horses” because cars — although nominally available — were far from commonplace.

Right now, we have a unique opportunity. Tools, infrastructure, and networks related to communications and media have developed to the point that many options which previously were of little use now are very accessible and practical.

The trick to capitalize on these options is first of all to expand your thinking and stop relying on traditional methods in your own mind. Whether you ultimately abandon them or not is your own choice. However, unless you actually try to give up the tired old strategies (even if just as a thought experiment, in your own head), you probably won’t ever truly learn the potential of new ways of communicating.

In short, you’re more likely to proclaim new options as failures (or at least less effective) until you give them a real shot, on their own terms. And that means at least experimenting with giving up the old ways.

Regarding where I get my information about the abysmal uselessness of press releases is: Conversations with every journalist I know. Literally, to a person, they uniformly tell me they loathe releases. And most PR people have told me they hate writing them. I can only listen to that so much before I have to scremL “THEN WHAT’S THE POINT?”

I don’t think the solution here is breeding faster and more accurate carrier pigeons. It’s about finding better ways to communicate.

- Amy Gahran

So I’m suggesting that the 90% that don’t get used were probably mistakes to produce as press releases in the first place. The 10% that did were successful and effective. Why should we give them up? As much as I might rack my brain for other ways to handle my contact lens situation in Waco(read my post), the press release proved without any question to be the single most effective channel I could have used.

In short, I think we’re fundamentally in agreement, with one minor exception. You seem to think we should eschew them 100% of the time; I think we should eschew them 90% of the time.

“Bad press releases are bad. But good press releases are good! Many editors and reporters genuinely appreciate good press releases. How about outlawing BAD press releases and sticking with what works?”

Shel, I understand you’re very passionate about quality in PR. That said, I think you’re missing my point.

My contention here is that on the whole, press releases DON’T REALLY WORK WELL — and they never have. IMHO, the occasional successes that have been achieved with well-written press releases are mainly due to a lack of easily accessible alternative vehicles for PR-press communication.

Look at it this way: If we all communicated by carrier pigeon, some of the best pigeons would occasionally get their messages through. There would be occasional successes. However, wouldn’t you rather just pick up a telephone or send an e-mail to transmit a message?

The whole point of my challenge is to encourage PR people (and others in the media ecosystem) to think creatively, to not rest on tradition.

So Shel, I dare you, personally: Think creatively here. If you absolutely had to eschew press releases, what other options would you use? Try this thought experiment, since that’s all it is. You might be surprised. I’d be curious to see what you’d come up with, since you know PR so well and I deeply respect your judgement.

Best, as always

- Amy Gahran

You have a site that is provocative, informative and well-written. Thank you for the time and energy that goes into it.

Having been in the public relations business for almost 16 years now, I find the idea of a world without press releases to be appealing.

Press releases have been taken over by marketers and often contain nothing short of drivel.

They ought to be called news releases, as I teach my PR students, since they are supposed to contain newsworthy information. Incidentally, the assigned text for the PR writing course contains mostly marketing examples, most of which are junk that in my experience would never get covered anywhere.

That said, I often go without news releases in my private practice. Direct contact with reporters on newsworthy issues saves time and energy. I can target the placement more effectively and devote the energy that would have been involved in writing and distributing a release to ensure that the hits I do get have high value; that is, the content is accurate and the story is more likely to be well positioned in the particular media. I get selective about which medium I use, against based on a target audience assessment.

For an upcoming municipal election, I am pushing my candidate to blog. It’s a natural fit for him. The newsrooms are already reading my blog so it would be easy to have them draw information from there. The novelty of a blog release of a candidacy might just be good enough to score some initial coverage – it would be newsworthy in this market.

More importantly though, I can reach a key demographic through blogging without having my information filtered by news media.

PR professionals should always think outside the conventional ruts into which all people fall. The five minutes I spend in planning my PR activities saves five hours or five days of wasted energy. Being I am a lazy bastard, that’s important to me.

http://tinyurl.com/djl7x

Hmmmmmm… so if PR folks proposed these solutions before… WHY AREN’T YOU USING THEM???? I keep seeing PR people resort to the same ineffective, inauthentic, dull strategies – especially press releases. Why is that? Why such an outstanding aversion to a request for creativity? Why are PR folks reacting with a vehemence that would be more appropriate if I were attacking their profession wholesale, rather than just a single outdated and notoriously ineffective practice.

The overwhelmingly negative reaction I’ve had to raising the theme of putting press releases out of their misery reminds me of something that one of my favorite authors, Paul Graham, said in Hackers and Painters:

“The statements that make people mad are the ones they worry might be believed. I suspect the statements that make people maddest are those they worry might be true.”