Press releases need to evolve into press briefs. In a 24-hour news cycle nobody has enough time to be an expert. A press brief would state the case, offer source and background information, offer historical perspective, and then make the client’s argument. So, the client pitch would need to be a well thought out argument focused on selling the reporter, not just feeding him.
New media and multimedia should be illustrative and supportive. Shoehorning old press releases into a new medium is a waste of time and resources. Journalists and bloggers have the responsibility of doing their own analysis and putting their own voice and tone into anything and everything they write.
So, although I do agree with Chris Heuer, Tom Foremski, Dave Winer, and Richard Edelman that the press release is dead, I don’t agree that it needs to be made new media unless that new media is more compelling to the press.
What reporters and journalists need is more context, not more entertainment. Maybe they do need “edutainment” but they don’t need to get fed the same old tired single-sided pitch through the latest and greatest.
Press releases need to not only deliver client message but also need to educate the writer on the subject, the background, the industry. And not just prepackaged content to cut-and-paste but rather. Maybe Public Relations firms need to hire more paralegals and librarians. I know for a fact that all PR firms have their own research practices or research companies. Maybe what PR needs to do it to include reporters, journalists, bloggers, citizen journalists, and citizen marketers in the process.
In a world in which only 33% of Americans trust the media, the media is going to push hard to get back its credibility. No longer will they transcribe our press releases into their stories. We must supply content providers with the ingredients, the recipes, and the tools and trust that in most cases they will make something very close to our menu.
If you send eggs, better, salt, flour, and milk and a recipe for crepes, you generally get crepes, although you may get pancakes, tortillas, or aebelskiver.
Our responsibility as PR professionals is to decided if you and your client are okay with getting something pancake-like.
