The press release as a public relations tool is in transition. Before the World Wide Web, before everyone was online, press releases (or news releases) had a straightforward function: persuade a reporter, editor or producer to cover your story in some fashion. Sometimes that coverage was in the form of a fully reported story that the press release kicked off, sometimes the news release itself was printed more or less as is, and sometimes a highly edited and shortened form of the release made it into the paper.
These days, however, press releases are increasingly published as stand-alone content online. They show up on web sites and in online news feeds, thanks to services such as BusinessWire and PRNewswire. More and more journalists, under pressure to produce exclusive content that provides more value to their readers and audiences, will first ask “who else have you sent this to” or “where else has this news appeared” before doing anything with a release.
Most of the time, if you want to get news coverage a well-honed pitch to the right journalist at the right news outlet is your best bet. But a pitch is a different thing from a news release. It’s not intended for distribution beyond individual journalists and is designed to earn fully reported coverage, not to be published as is or revised.
Too many people still think PR means “press release,” so I think it’s time we rethought the press release, and other forms of content that public relations pros like me spend time trying to get out. It’s time to more clearly define the role of the press release in the public relations ecosystem.
A new role for press releases
A press release should:
- Enhance search engine optimization.
- Provide a full package of content – the whole story, not just part of it – in a form that’s easy to share through social media (hence the increasing use of the “social media release“).
- Be written with a broad, general audience in mind, not just journalists.
- Be considered a public document. (For public companies and some other organizations, in fact, issuing a news release is sometimes considered a form of disclosure under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules.)
There are still times when the news release is what you send to journalists to announce something. But increasingly, a news release should communicate directly to other audiences as well. We need to start thinking of the news release as just another form of content – like white papers, newsletters and blog posts – that are a part of the public relations toolbox. Sometimes that content goes to journalists in hopes that they will then publish a news story about it, but increasingly that content will go directly to end users.
This does create some new challenges, though. Companies need to do a better job of including noncompany voices in their news releases and making the content more compelling and authoritative. Companies also need to make sure they’re working just as hard to get their news releases out to other audiences as they do to get them to journalists.
Tools for earning media coverage
Does that mean I’m advocating giving up communicating with journalists? Absolutely not. But I think when it comes to journalists, PR pros should concentrate more on pitches – whether delivered over the phone, via email or in-person – when trying to earn coverage. What’s the difference between a pitch and a press release? A pitch:
- Is designed to elicit interest and follow-up from the news media.
- Should be personalized and customized, as much as possible, to each individual journalist’s needs and preferences.
- Gives just enough information to demonstrate the news value to the journalist.
- Is less formal than press releases and other forms of company content.
My overall point is simple: If you want to communicate to a broad audience, particularly one that’s online, a press release may be a great tool for that. But if you want coverage in the media, because of its greater reach and the added credibility that comes from making it through a news outlet’s filters, then don’t immediately turn to a news release. A pitch might be a better choice.
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In no particular order, I'm a writer, MBA, ex-journalist, blogger, geek, strategic communications pro, father, struggling novelist 
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