Among those write them and those who read them, there's a great clamor today to eradicate press releases. The sentiments run deep, but this is the wrong solution. The real question is: Why are press releases so bad? The answer: Despite their name, bad "press" releases are not written for the "press." What? How can this be? And what can be done about? First, let's clear up a misconception: Press releases do not represent the sum total of public relations any more than a four-seam fastball represents the totality of baseball. Press releases are merely one tool in PR. However, like fastballs that miss the strike zone, they are grossly misused so often that it's easy to see why many want to euthanize them rather than deal with the underlying conditions that make them horrible. Here are three reasons why press releases are so bad: 1. Too many are not written for journalists.
The writing process for even a simple product press release often involves a committee. And the release reads like it. Worse, the committee writes for itself and not for journalists. With unintentional and self-defeating good works, members keep adding words, acronyms, concepts and catch phrases to satisfy their internal political considerations. It's nearly impossible for such a group to write in a way that improves the understanding of journalists, who have only seconds to devote to their release before determining if it is worthy of coverage. 2. Too many of those who determine the content aren't communicators. The professional qualifications of those who edit press releases are often impressive: lawyers, human resource professionals, accountants, engineers. But most of these professionals have no experience parsing English to entice journalists. Instead, they lengthen phrases and sentences, obfuscate meaning, seriously reducing media pick-up of good stories. 3. Press releases are often not press releases, but political manifestos. A committee writing a press release unintentionally complicates it. But many organizations intentionally issue manifestos that appear to be press releases but are no such thing. These organizations can be quite happy about it, even if journalists consider their work poor excuses for press releases. These manifestos, blogged, burped and "texted" across the ever-expanding ether of electronic communications are not news at all. They are opinion. They may be worthy opinion (or not), depending upon factors that have nothing to do with the judgment process journalists use to sort, sift and identify "news." Unfortunately, however, the organizations issuing these manifestos hope journalists lump them into the same category as "real" press releases. This never happens, and only poisons the well for those with legitimate news. So what can be done about the horrible state of press releases, which, despite all the talk, are a bedrock tool of public relations? Here are three solutions: 1. Remember who we're writing for. Sometimes, a release written by committee is unavoidable. But a good process with a strong team captain can make sure that the press release is something that its intended audience (journalists) will actually read, and that its content is something journalists will use (news). 2. Involve communicators in the communicating. The views of professionals involved in the news behind a press release are essential. But lawyers, accountants and engineers shouldn't drive the writing and editing of press releases any more than patients should guide the knife during their surgeries. 3. Learn to separate news and opinion for better results. Just because you have an opinion doesnt mean it's news. News belongs in press releases; opinions can appear in many, many places, from blogs to opinion articles and statements and interviews. But stamping the words "press release" on a document that has little resemblance to what most journalists consider "news" only worsens the situation for the organization issuing this kind of document -- and the rest of us who have real news to share. Are these the only problems with press releases? Are these the only solutions? Hardly. But I offer them as a start in what should be a vigorous debate among PR professionals and those they work with about the proper use of press releases. Press releases aren't going away any more than the four-seam fastball is going to disappear from the repertoire of hard-throwing major league pitchers. That's all the more reason why we should focus on the underlying problems of bad press releases, so that we can make sure that more of them hit the strike zone the first time they're pitched. |
