The shape of press releases to come
23rd May 2006 by Shel Holtz, ABC
Over on my regular blog, I’ve posted several items defending the beseiged press release. The poor press release is being assaulted from a number of quarters, all of which proclaim that social media and other better alternatives spell its doom. I can’t disagree with the litany of problems the media have with press releases. In far too many cases they contain no news but are instead sloppy excuses for getting a little brand awareness into the papers. They are poorly written. They are sent to reporters who cover something completely unrelated to the focus of the release.
But the idea that blogs and other social media tools can replace press releases always struck me as too much of an “either-or” argument that made no sense. There are plenty of tales — many recent — of press releases producing phenomenal results. Then there are regulatory material disclosure requirements. While press releases aren’t mandated per se, they are still the best way to comply with the requirement for simultaneous disclosure to recognized financial markets. I never subscribed to the idea that new media kill old media. Old media frequently shrink. More often, they adapt. So why can’t the press release adapt to the age of social computing instead of meet with extinction?
In fact, that’s just what’s happening. PR Newswire press releases now include the ability to subscribe to an RSS feed and to save the release to a del.icio.us account. BusinessWire has a slew of RSS feeds, letting visitors get the latest press releases dealing with such finely-defined topics as Philanthropy News or Construction and Property News. PRWeb is even producing podcasts associated with releases.
But SHIFT Communications took a huge step today toward pushing the press release into the era of social computing with the release of a template for the social media press release. You can even download a template; SHIFT is throwing its concept out to the world for implementation and improvement.
The Social Media Press Release had its origins in a rant by Silicon Valley journalist-blogger Tom Foremski, who begged PR practitioners to…
Deconstruct the press release into special sections and tag the information so that as a publisher, I can pre-assemble some of the news story and make the information useful.
That’s just what SHIFT has done, creating a press release template that divides the release into clear sections that are easily put to use by busy reporters and editors. First is contact information, followed by a headline and core news facts, preferably in bullet-list format. Then come a link and RSS feed for a “purpose-built” del.icio.us page. This page offers links to “relevant historical, trend, market, product & competitive content sources, providing context as-needed, and, on-going updates.”
Images and multimedia links are next, followed by pre-approved quotes, then links to relevant coverage to-date, boilerplate statements, an RSS feed to the company’s releases, an “add to del.icio.us” link, a Digg This link, and Technorati tags.
SHIFT’s Todd Defren has even gone so far as to create a unique del.icio.us tag to maintain an archive of how the concept evolves. And finally, of course, SHIFT has issued a press release about the template that uses the template, the first-ever such release.
Meanwhile, Edelman has announced that it, too, is releasing a new-media press release template, probably in June.
Take a look at SHIFT’s template and then post your comments here. Is this the way to go? Will media take to this new format? And can a Social Media Press Release give the press release a new lease on life?
May 24th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Shel,
As always … thoughtful and articulate.
I followed the links in your post (and the links in theirs … and so on … and so on) and took at look at the SHIFT template.
We used to send the same thing out by courier: relevant written information to the journalist(s) we hoped to attract (with emphasis on relevance to those journalists); a photo; some form of corporate identity; audiotaped sound bites (which we used to refer to as “actualities”); and B-roll.
Back then, if I remember, journalists complained that we didn’t do our homework on them (and I read at least three links following your thread from bloggers with the same complaint), and PR people tended to ignore that complaint.
The house above the ground may look at little different with technology. But the foundation on which success rests is exactly the same.
May 25th, 2006 at 9:09 am
Wow. I am a public relations major based out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I am currently on my first work term, set up by the college.
Working for this organization and following the standard procedure for press releases has made me see the need for adaptation in today’s world of media relations.
I printed off your template, and really agreed with the things that you said. I doubt that I have the clout around here to actually implement something like this, but I am certainly going to share this with my graduating class, and keep it with me as I venture on.
Thanks.
May 29th, 2006 at 7:49 am
You’re right, Shel. Before we spend lots of time figuring whether this or that format or template or delivery mechanism is best, we oughta have something to say.
On PR Squared, a blogger identified as PR Minority echoed your earlier comments:
I first saw the SHIFT Communications Social Media Press Release last week. SHIFT says:
I’ll talk a bit more about formatting separately.
May 31st, 2006 at 11:23 am
Ease-of-use is wonderful. To echo others: if there is not news, it doesn’t matter what the format is.
Remember: you can put a tutu and a tiara on a pig and maybe even teach it to dance but it’s still a pig.
Thanks.
June 8th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
After reading Shel’s thoughtful post, and the responses thus far, I have to say I’m more than a little encouraged by the apparent direction — and merger — of the traditional news release and the many new technology forms. My feeling of optimism comes from what I perceive as a blurring of boundaries and differences between the old and new forms of preparing and distributing the so-called news release. The major benefit of this melding process underway is, I believe, the shifting of emphasis from management’s message to constituencies’ perceptions/needs.
Of course, I guess I should admit my long-held bias, which I espoused regularly in the classes I taught in the realm of public relations, that the news release, as we have long known it, is a relic and should be abandoned. Replacement forms, whatever shape they take and whatever label given them, should — again, my view — dispense with the formalities and archaic structure of top-down, organization-heavy news releases and go with forms that highlight data, information, and viewpoints that are designed to tweak the primary interests of the media BECAUSE they would unquestionably do the same of the media’s readership/viewership. A simple fact sheet, for instance, perhaps presented in descending order of importance with an accompanying clarifying “pitch” note, is no doubt perceived more positively by media than anything resembling a pat, one-sided presentation of the organization’s prime interests. Heck, nobody likes to be told what they should consider important, much less how they ought to say it, right? Certainly that’s true of journalists, in my experience.
It’s all about perceptions . . . So, what’s new?
September 26th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
As usual, Mr. Holtz is correct.
The News Release is not dead.
It’s just being presented, delivered and filed in a new way.
The technical methods of disseminating the old tried ‘n true News Release are changing dramatically. There’s no question of that.
When I was in News and on the Assignment Desk, I was appalled by the same criticisms Mr. Holtz mentions. That’s the problem of the writer of the news release - not the release itself. If a release is sent to inappropriate editors and reporters, the release is not at fault. It’s the human element that’s to blame (and it always will be).
The bottom line here is that the “release” is not dead - it’s just evolving.