The Not-So Slow Death of the News Release

I had an interesting conversation with another former television news reporter today about the good old news release.  When I asked if she ever scanned news releases for a story idea she quickly and decisively replied, “no.”  I knew that answer was coming.  She said that in the news rooms in which she worked the assignment editors usually picked up the news releases.  Presumably, they then stuck them in a day file where the releases of any future value live for another day.  The sad thing is, many releases never see the day file.

The question becomes the future of the news release.  I have talked among associates recently, that I believe the news release is not far off from becoming an irrelevant piece of communication.  With media changing, businesses have the ability to take their stories into their own hand and kick the dependency on media coverage.  In case you haven’t noticed, the good old fashioned news media isn’t what it used to be.

David Meerman Scott, author of “The New Rules of PR and Marketing” and “World Wide Rave,” has made some strong and convincing arguments that the news release is dying a fast death.  The question for many traditional PR professionals then becomes, “If there are no releases, then what?”  Sure, you can convince your clients that it’s still a worthy communication piece, and build impressive news releases, but how do you know if the targeted media is reading?  Obviously, if you have a contact in the media and you have their ear for your story ideas, the release is a great background piece.  On the other hand, if the media has no idea who you are and the subject line on the email for your release looks like every other one, why would they open it?

The argument is:  What about when you have important news to release?  If you really want masses of people to hear about really important news, do you think you can reach the masses faster with a news release or by Tweeting or posting the information to strategic websites?  Have you seen a viral video catch fire? Depending on how “big” the news is, really BIG news can spread in minutes to millions.

This is why social media is so compelling.  Spend more time positioning your client in social media through dynamic content.  Understand what’s interesting to their customers, hang out in social media circles that your client customers hang out in, learn what discussions are going on and measure the progress.  Help your clients earn the trust of their followers and engage, engage, engage.

Ed Heil is the owner and president of StoryTeller Media & Communications an inbound marketing and public relations agency and video production company based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Ed blogs on topics related to inbound marketing, social media, media relations, news media, video production and crisis communications.

Tags: David Meerman Scott, World Wide Rave

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