Interactive Online News Releases

The style and format of news releases has not changed much since the days of Gutenberg. Well, maybe not that far back but it seems like it.

Most news releases are not news stories but rather self-serving announcements, written more for the benefit of a company or organization than to get the attention of, God-forbid, the media. Most are also boring.

Today, many if not most releases are distributed by faux news wire services. I use the word “faux” because all the Internet news release distribution services are about as effective as spam email … few releases are seen by actual journalists, and even fewer ever result in a story.

Nonetheless, news releases are a necessary ritual … perhaps a ritual of hope that somehow, someone will read it, say “wow,” and write a story. Don’t get your hopes up.

All that said, there is a fascinating service – PRX Builder – that helps you create an interactive news release that will contain all the elements to enhance the appeal to the media, including images and links to Digg and Delicious. Here is a release that a friend created, using PRX, about my new book, The Media Savvy Leader. Not bad?!

I believe that PRX Builder is a company that is harnessing all the right online resources and tools of Web 2.0 to enhance the chances that a news release will be seen and be shared. My advice is to spend resources on PRX Builder and distribute this new interactive style of release by email to a list of primary media and your key audiences, rather than waste money on a faux news wire.

Category: Featured, Media Relations, News Media