Die Press Release!!!
A friend was telling me today about a conference she has just attended that brought together a large group of public relations people with a smaller group of working journalists. The discussion had centered, as it often does at such sessions, on what journalists really need in today’s demanding media world, and the merits of press releases.
The journalists unanimously said that news releases are useless. In fact, news releases – which are shared with everyone under the sun through blast email services – are the antithesis of what the media wants. Reporters – whether mainstream or online – are paid to find and report fresh and imaginative stories … stories that haven’t appeared elsewhere.
The group of journalists told the PR people that all they really need is a brief, concisely written email that outlines a story, and no follow-up phone calls to check whether they got the email. The latter – the follow-up phone call – generally reveals an insecure PR rookie. What the media does not need is for PR people to aggressively pursue them with press releases – which rarely contains any elements of stories, anyway. Just give reporters a story idea, and let them run with it. That’s their job.
I know that most news releases today have morphed into something else that’s not really intended for the media but rather as self-serving promotion for organization, glowing announcements of generally trivial nature to make the suits in the corner offices happy. But the morphing has polluted the media waters, and here’s why – many PR agencies today are shoveling out news releases to the media in a style that has not changed much for decades, except that today’s digital delivery methods have replaced envelopes, stamps and fax machines. It no longer works.
By the way … thanks to Tom Foremski and SiliconValleyWatcher for the Die Press Release graphic. It’s from a story Tom wrote on the subject in 2006.
Filed Under: Featured • News Media • Public Relations
About the Author: David is a veteran communications strategist ... writer ... blogger ... online publisher ... and Emmy Award winning former CBS Network News correspondent. He lives in the Washington, D. C., area, and works worldwide.
To be fair, finding out whether your media targets have received a release isn’t really the point of making those follow-up calls.
More importantly, PR people make those calls to find out what more in addition to the news release the journalists may want in order to develop stories they see fit. In other words, the calls are part of an important negotiation process that gives journalists stories inputs or ideas they may not think or be aware of just by looking at a short email pitch or a release alone.
If you come across a PR person who calls you only to find out if you’ve received her release, this only means she isn’t doing her job properly; it doesn’t mean those calls are meaningless per se .
The truth is I’ve come across many journalists who do and will continue to love press releases because:
1) They find certain subject matters too technical for their own background and they prefer to have something more detailed to understand the story
2) There’s a shortage of staff or resources in their offices and the only way they could cover a story they deem worthy is simply copy and paste materials from the releases
Are these journalists wrong for being such traditionalists on press releases? Well no, as far as they are concerned.
As a PR person, you are not writing the journalist’s story but merely providing a story idea that you hope will turn into something. If a reporter wants something else from you, they will contact you. But to “make those calls to find out what more in addition to the news release the journalists may want in order to develop stories they see fit” is being a pest, in most cases, and presumptuous. As a PR person, focus on developing and presenting solid stories, and get over the insecure urge to manage or force the story along. You really have to get over the urge to call a reporter to ask what else they might need.
I am curious what journalists you’ve found “love” press releases in today’s world. No need to name names but what do they cover, what sort of media do they work for? Because your “many” journalists who love press releases clearly are among the lost tribe in today’s media.
Actually I am not based in the US, so this explains why what I said may seem incomprehensible to you. Truth is we (or any PR person in any part of the world for that matter) cannot afford to be presumptuous even if we wanted to. If no media had reacted positively to those follow-up calls, we wouldn’t still be investing our time doing it, or we know we will just be wasting our own time. Theoretically as PR people we aren’t writing the journalists’ story, but in reality it isn’t unheard of that PR people in this part of the world have been told by their media contacts to do just that. You may think this applies only to journalists in small local papers of some unsophisticated developing countries, reality is I’ve experienced this with UK/US expat journalists at major regional publications here. All these may seem “backward” from US’ point of view, it’s just a different day-to-day reality for us that’s all. I agree that there is no lack of boring, rubbish news releases on PR wires coming out from the US, but I see it more a problem with the individual PR person’s inability to make her story interesting rather than any inherent problem with press release as a medium itself. If one isn’t capable of putting an interesting story in a release in an engaging way, I can’t see how the same person could do it more capably by selling the same story as a short email pitch. Social media is becoming increasingly popular here, and people here know it’s something as important as traditional releases and email pitches. I guess the region just hasn’t reached a stage which anyone could come out and say with confidence that traditional PR tactics and news releases have become obselete.
I’m going to have to disagree with part of this posting… But rather than starting with the negative, I do want to point out that I agree that press releases are a dying PR tool (except when they are used to generate content on their own web site – allowing it to be searchable on google). No reporter that is getting bombarded with 300+ e-mails a day will read a press release detailing the latest and greatest discovery/invention/event in the history of time. Instead, something I like to do is send out a brief e-mail pitch, bulleting out key points – albeit stats or thought-provoking questions topped off with a honest but eye-catching subject line.
Follow-up phone calls is where I disagree with your posting… Often times I’ve spoken to reporters that did not see my e-mail among the avalanche of mundane notes that fill their inbox on a daily basis – in fact, I often get thanked for pointing it out. As the tradition media landscape is shrinking, many reporters are covering four or five beats, so pointing a trend out through a follow-up call can be effective.
Yes it is our job as PR pros to develop a compelling storyline for our clients, but it is also our job to be aggressive while being polite – leaving no stone unturned for our clients.
I disagree with you on this one, David.
I find that a good amount of my media relations success comes from making that follow-up phone call.
I can’t count the number of times I have contacted a reporter by phone and secured an interview after sending a pretty good pitch email and receiving no response. Either the reporter never saw the email, or did see it but got sidetracked by the 10 other things they were working on that day.
Reporters are really busy and get hundreds of email pitches a day, and probably get to writing only of a couple of the ten stories they could have covered on any given day if time were unlimited. Assuming you have done your research on the reporter and you know your story is a good one, you can’t rely on one communications medium to get through.
Our clients pay us to hustle on their behalf, so sending out an email and waiting for a response doesn’t cut it.
Obviously, having a long-term relationship with the reporter and knowing how they prefer to be contacted is the ideal situation, but when you represent multiple clients in multiple industry sub-sectors that isn’t always the reality.
I agree with you on your press release point, they are nearly worthless for media. What they are good for is search engine optimization and communicating directly with your client’s key audiences, which is why we still use them.
People have been predicting the death of press releases since they were first used in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s but they’re still here. One important reason is that the kind of information that often appears in releases — e.g., the down and dirty 5Ws of new hires, new products, upcoming events — only requires a release. A pitch to a reporter or editor on many, if not most, of these obvious subjects would be useless. And last I knew, releases were pretty much mandatory for news by public companies of anything materially affecting the price of their stock. So let’s take care that when we attack releases we don’t end up tossing the baby with the bath. Press releases have their place. That said, I’m appalled by the writing in most of the releases I see that go beyond the 5Ws. As my recent research with Cision of U.S. media makes clear — http://www.gwu.edu/~newsctr/newscenter/research/Cision/index.cfm — editors and reporters dislike, putting it mildly, the way PR people write. They think news releases and email pitches should be far less promotional and far more relevant to their editorial interests. This has been said time and time again, of course, but when you consider what most editors and reporters still receive daily by mail and email from PR folks, it not only bears repeating, it bears repeating until the writers get it right. But don’t hold your breath waiting; you’ll be committing suicide.
Great post David! Very thought provoking. I plan to share it with my Twitter friends AND clients. However, as a radio and TV talk show host and producer, I have to partially disagree. While I despise press releases that promote events or black tie galas, I think they are still vital IF they’re written correctly! In my opinion, a press release should ONLY be 4 to 5 SHORT paragraphs (one page) and must have 3 things:
1.) a highly compelling story angle and hook. Sometimes i can pull parts of the press release and use it as intro or lead in material.
2.) concise bullet-pointed facts about the topic that outlines why the issue is important
3.) i also like when press releases identify a media-savvy expert that I can invite to be a guest.
David, what people forget is that one of the key elements of news is the ability to tell a great story. Press release, again if done right, give people the ability to briefly share a compelling story wrapped in news that is relevant and meaningful.
Therefore, folks like you and me need to teach PR people who have never set foot in a newsroom how to do it right!
Long live press releases!
Monique,
Brilliant! You have listed an easy how-to get media attention by giving the media what they want and need. Now … why can’t the PR business connect the dots …
David
David,
In Tim O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 definition that was a warning of things to come, he characterized Web 2.0 as an “architecture of participation.”
Maybe I am missing something but why don’t we see more and more powerful blog sites in the Public Relations industry? The idea behind providing a valuable press release is to leverage news. This news is helpful for journalists as well as the clients the PR firms serve.
Why don’t these firms create their own breaking news sections within their blog sites that can be used by journalists as a go-to resource of value? The breaking news aka press release section could be password protected and only journalists with a relationship with the PR firm are fed the information.
Imagine the idea of PR professionals having journalists come to them rather than them constantly “chasing the ambulance.”
The problem is, Dean, that most press releases are not news or informative or a story but rather nothing more than marketing promotion.
Sorry, but I disagree with the idea that the press release is dead. However, poorly written press releases must die immediately! In my most recent position, I often found that while press releases written by our partners were relegated to the netherworld of the electronic recycle bin, the ones that came directly from our company often were used almost verbatim by media outlets around the country.
Now, this wasn’t a 100% infallible notion, because there were plenty of press releases we wrote that barely saw the light of day. But typically, ours had far better pickup and results. The reasons:
* Press releases were infrequent, and only written when there was a genuine news item to talk about;
* The releases were not “product-oriented” — they were always about a product, but they were written in a way that actually told the story;
* They were written not in a “faux journalistic” style, but in a way that emulated how the journalist might write her/himself — we wrote the way they wrote, not in the way a public relations professional THINKS a journalist writes;
* Headlines were succinct, two-deck affairs (sometimes with two-deck subheads) — again, they emulated journalistic style;
* Quotes were used when relevant, not to make an executive feel better;
* Contact information was clear and easy to find;
* We never, ever, ever made follow-up calls. E-mail is the way to go — it’s what journalists (whether print, online or broadcast) use. There were plenty of journalists I worked with literally for years whose voices I never heard; we communicated only via e-mail.
Write a GOOD press release and you’ll get results. Write one that’s filled with exclamation points, poor writing and no real story (“Joy Smith Proudly Announces an All-New Line of Summertime Scents to Delight Perfume Wearers at Her Downtown Podunk Store ‘Potpurri’!!!”) and you’ll get the results you’d expect.
Good points, John. But press releases that are cleverly written as legitimate stories are few and far between.
David
That’s true — and that’s a sad commentary on the state of public relations.
David,
It perception I am coming away with about the PR industry is that many firms are stuck in the hard sell delivery of information masked as “news.” Interesting that the entire idea of transparency and becoming a go-to source of value is lost-or possibly never discovered?
Dean,
I believe you are correct – PR in the last decade become too marketing oriented, too sales and ROI-focused, and now it is faced with making a major shift to adapt to the new styles, techniques and protocols of the Internet age.
David
I morphed into the PR side of the communications business 10 years ago and I have NEVER liked press releases. They have been a necessary evil that I was required to perpetuate while working for other companies. Now that I have my own business, developing relationships with journalists is most important.
But, we need to recognize that many times we have a story that needs to be relayed by a journalist with whom we do not have a relationship. In those cases, I share key elements of a story through e-mail and give a heads up that I will follow up with a call. Because I prefer to offer stories exclusive to print and broadcast, it helps me to know that the journalist is not interested in reporting. This gives me the go ahead to move on to the next journalist on my targeted list.
In today’s world, PR professionals need to understand that while we should be more than happy to offer a lead and let the journalist run with it – we also need to know if they are not interested so that we can offer the lead to another journalist.
Susan,
You got it! Precisely.
Thanks for commenting.
David
Thanks to David for hosting this discussion. I think the important thing is the “relationship”. I’ve worked on both sides and I can testify that my most successful PR coverage came when I gave up trying to manipulate the journalists and simply served their needs – in whatever ways that was important to them on whatever days I was communicating with them.
I got so good at it, in fact, that they would trust me to call last minute facts and details in to them from a location they had to leave, usually under deadline pressure. In other words, they began to trust me as an objective source of news, almost as a fellow reporter.
Of course, two things had to be in place first. One, I had to prove that I was genuinely interested in simply helping them. Two, we both had to be equally interested in reality, in other words, simply the truth.
Tom,
You clearly know the professional approach to media relations … but why is this so difficult for so many to embrace? Is the industry too locked in to old, outdated tactics?
David
Dear David,
The other element to consider is the internal political one. In other words, some releases may be written (perhaps unconsciously) to keep less-sophisticated superiors happy, to flatter them, to show “evidence” that one is doing one’s job, to protect one’s employment, and to promote oneself.
In the real world, of course, there is often a divergence between job security and the pure good. After all, it’s hard to resist the temptation to author flattering memos on corporate letterhead that are Cc’d to the boss, no matter that they have no effect on actual recipients.
I’ve just applied for the media relations position at OEA with your friend KB, so perhaps I’ll have a chance to put some of my own self-righteous idealism to work! (smile)
Warmest,
Tom Howe
Incidentally, if you must write a press release, and want to know how to write an appealing release that will contain legitimate news and be appealing to reporters, it’s detailed in my new book, The Media Savvy Leader – http://tinyurl.com/cejsow.
As a reporter, I never understood the many uses of a press release, and when I finally decided to write about what one of them discussed, spent most of my time trying to dredge up the real news.
Now I’m on the other side, where our clients still like to issue news, and are gradually moving to embrace digital releases.
But since reporters are the pure-play target of relatively few releases now, how long will it be until prospects realize that all they want is a digital release as well?
Anyhow, it was food for thought — http://tinyurl.com/cjv8ah
Amy
Great discussion! In working with the media, I generally follow the pattern you outline David. I will send a brief outline pitch or an FYI to a reporter, and perhaps include a link to a more comprehensive story or type of PR that I post on our site. That way, you can still include more detailed information, but you are keeping the email pitch brief. Reporters get so many emails that if they open one up and see a whole bunch of text, they are likely click delete pretty quickly. This way, if you capture their interest, all they have to do is click on the link.
As for the follow-up call, that is something where relationship building is crucial. There are reporters who do appreciate a heads up from you on a significant story that they may have missed in their sea of emails. You have to do your homework though and ensure that this is a story they are likely to cover and that it is “newsworthy”. I’m always very conscious of the fact that I do not want to be crying wolf all the time, so that when a significant story does comes along, I realize that it is too late and I have already burnt my bridge there! Another point, if you think a call is needed, then ask them at the end of the call if they are okay with you following up by phone. Again, relationship building is key! You need to gain their trust. They have to know that you are there to help them.
Kathleen
Not that many have said it, but let’s not forget that PR does not stand for Press Release. The release is a small part of either (or both) corp comm and media relations… which themselves are slices of the overall PR pie.
The corporate “news release” which isn’t really intended for the media is an anachronism that just isn’t going away fast enough. But I think there is still potential for “media releases” – however, how they are prepared, what they contain and how they are delivered all need to be looked at with fresh eyes.
The “new” media release should
- not include some of that wretched PR-speak that many releases are guilty of
- include the very basics of what is being announced
- present info an a way that the pertinent points are accessible to the media
- group info/messages around common threads that mimic or relate to specific beats
- have quotes and 3rd party corroboration
- include links to additional info (both internal and external)
- include links to images/video/audio samples (rather like the old b-roll we used to create)
In essence, this is an adaptation of the Social Media Release. What it all comes down to is packaging your info in a way that is useful to those you send it to.
And that’s the next part… the old ‘be sure that the person you’re sending the info to is the right person!’ And even if it’s the right person, relationship building is critical so a personalized intro note is very important.
With that relationship comes the understanding of how people want to get their info. We’re all different and we’re living in a world where we have the power to customize what information we get and how we get it. The same expectations apply to releases/info. Some people will want a pdf file, others may just want a notice (via email? twitter? etc) saying there is new info available and a link to get to that info (whether that’s a virtual press room or some stand-alone microsite).
Oddly, there is one thing that seems to be bucking the ‘releases are dead’ trend. That is a sudden return to releases that are issued over a wire service generating coverage. This seems to be more true for ‘on-line only’ media sources and – curiously – some bloggers! It’s as if something appearing over the wire is “more legit” than if it came from a person.
It can be hard to convince clients that the release is dead when one issued over a wire service gets all kinds of pick up!
I find it so troubling how reporters act as if they are celebrities and rock stars. There are few “hungry” reporters left! I tire of hearing from reporters who can only tell PR profs what they DON’T want them to do: Don’t Call. Don’t follow up. Don’t look me in the eyes when you’re addressing me. There was a time when being a reporter was a noble profession in which reporters were hungry for a story and could read between the lines of a fluff press release and get a bang up story that got sent around the country. I know because I’ve done it. Of course that was long before the bloggers, Twitterers and 24 hour Headline news!
David — I just penned these thoughts on a LinkedIn group PR site that linked to your excellent “Die Press Release!” idea, but I thought I’d paste it here since this is where all the action seems to be. Regards, Michael Gury
* * *
Lots of compliments on these thoughts. Mine, and I’m going to come at it as a corporate person responsible for press relations: 1. A press release in gestation is a forcing mechanism. It forces everyone in the organization to articulate what the news is or is not. You’d be surprised at what has been previously briefed to the press officer doesn’t actually exist. Seeing a big fat headline in a release draft will scare the daylights out of the meek and some internal truth will emerge. 2. If in fact there is a shred of truth in the announcement, but the troops haven’t been mobilized to execute, a global release on Business Wire will quickly get them mobilized. 3. Most product, service and customer win releases have terrific value in the hands of the sales force. Frankly, their greatest value is often as marketing communications deliverables. If wordy, gorp-laden brochures are the standard (see Circular File), then a 1.2 page concise press release will stand tall and the sales team will love it. Doesn’t matter where you released it or placed it, as long as they have a copy, they’ll use it. 4. And to the same point, employees like to know that stuff is going on, and even if the news is not good, we communications people know how to use the same words to tell the employees, shareholders, etc., what’s going on ahead of time. 5. I’ve always sent a copy of a press release that I distribute to a carefully-built list of journalists within seconds of posting it — with a personal note that explains what it means. As suggested by this thread, most releases have no real value to journalists. So I always send the release to them and say this means this or that, and I essentially toss out story ideas. It’s actually fairly liberating. Once the release has been tortured by however many internal authorities and blessed, I can finally go to my people on the list and say, “you know what? Here’s what it means.” When I started doing this, my phone started ringing. Just posting a release and then walking away? — nothing (unless the news was bad, really confusing and/or it was earnings time).
My background has been shaped by broadcasting, printjournalism, marketing and PR. Back in the 1970’s the BBC decreed that press conferences would be termed news conferences and the press releases would be termed a news release. sadlt the current generation have forgotten this and reverted back to the idea of a press release etc., The writer is wrong, simply journalists these days are wedded to computers, many don’t socialise, don’t get out news gathering, making contacts, building relationships. I have countless cuttings whre the content of the news release has been lifted verbatim, so that blows another hole in the writers point of view. Also bear in mind the PR is not in the business to serve the journalist, the salary is paid by the client and the PR works to an agreed brief to get certain defined messages or information over, press cuttings are picked up by external contracts (and copyright fees) paid on those cuttings! in the UK that is. There is no way i’d hand my client lock stock and barrel over to a journalist and many is the time when the friendly journalist has offered his/ her cut price editorial services to the client, and during one memorable jolly the journalist slightly tipsy kept pestering the client right in front of me!
Any ifd not convinced I’ve set up a do it yourself news release kit on http://www.eventandroadshowplanners.com
The old cookie-cutter, standard release is indeed dying, but then again, any cookie-cutter approach to communications is in serious trouble. Generating an irresistibly compelling idea is still the best way to get coverage, and just planting it in front of the right media is often enough to start the wheels rolling. But I agree with many of the comments here: the follow-up phone call is a vital way to get feedback and give more detail, and to make sure the email didn’t get lost in a spam filter or the pile that happened to come in that day.
Very interesting thread, with some wonderful insights. It seems to me that the news release is just another communication tool for us to use or abuse. I think the keys, as others have said, are the relationship with the journalist and the quality of the information. If the news release is a tool they like or prefer, use it. If not, find their preferred channel and use it. With the advent of microblogging, a short, 140-character summary might be enough for a journalist who follows you to call or contact you for the story. It’s the “pull” not “push” approach that seems so prevalent today. The poorly written press release (as defined earlier by Julian) SHOULD die, but the well written news release should remain an old-school tool to use in those relationships that welcome it.
I may be one of the few people agreeing with you on the follow-up phone call. Having been in the shoes on both sides–a reporter and assignment editor, and for 15 years now a PR person–I know how often that follow-up phone call was annoying. Most of the time, for the reason you mention, David; it was just a “did you get it?” call, or it was a second attempt to pitch a story I’d already…pitched, myself.
Thinking about what’s going on in newsrooms nowadays, that call seems even more insensitive. (And I wonder if the thank-yous people here are getting are sincere or sarcastic.) There are so few staff in newsrooms anymore that most people are doing about 3 or 4 jobs, with little or no time to fend off all the PR people who would be calling them if every press release generated a follow-up call.
Fact is, if your email has a pithy subject line (not catchy, but substantive) and your email is succinct and clear, and your story actually worth covering, you will get coverage without nagging someone to take a second look at that release.
Great discussion going here. As someone noted, poorly written press releases should be killed and in fact are stillborn. What has changed is that press releases have morphed into consumer- or client-generated vehicles. Written to maximize the power of search engines, they can be effective in getting leads directly and bypassing the media.
As for the traditional role of releases, written well, they can still be a succinct way of telling your story.
[...] and former award-winning CBS Correspondent. The title of one of his most recent posts was: Die Press Release!!! If you’re a PR exec or DIY publicity seeker it is definitely worth the read. In part David [...]
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