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April 21, 2008
Die, press release, die!
A colleague just forwarded me an old (February 2006) blog post from technology journalist Tom Foremski entitled Die! Press release! Die! Die! Die! because she knows how I feel about press releases.
Mr. Foremski’s tirade is directed at the PR industry for its continued use of press releases. As he writes, “The press release is a statement announcing a product, service, office opening, financial results . . . and a hundred other types of commercial activities.
“Press releases are nearly useless. They typically start with a tremendous amount of top-spin, they contain pat-on-the-back phrases and meaningless quotes . . . Press releases are created by committees, edited by lawyers, and then sent out at great expense . . . to reach the digital and physical trash bins of tens of thousands of journalists.
“The madness has to end,” Mr. Foremski concludes, and offers an alternative approach to disseminating information to the media.
Since I’m not a media relations expert, I can’t comment on the value of press releases in generating publicity. But I can share my views on using company-issued releases as part of an employee communication program (for instance, posting them on an intranet site or publishing them in a newsletter): Please, I beg you, just say no.
Employees despise press releases because they hate packaged or “spun” communication, old news, and anything that wastes their time without adding value. In most cases, press releases fit all three criteria.
As one employee in a recent focus group told me, “I find (most communication) to be perfectly crafted, perfect words that don’t tell us much.”
And another employee said, “Too much of (communication) is a sort of gloss-over loaded with business speak.”
And another: “We get so much information that is just wasting our time. It’s just something being sent with no purpose.”
If employees don’t find press releases valuable, why do communicators use them? The painful truth is that it’s easy to do so. Releases are approved copy (there are those lawyers again) and a no-sweat way to send “news” to employees or post it on an intranet site.
Some companies (bless them) are eschewing press releases, at least for employee communication. They’re creating completely original versions of news stories or, at the very least, building on the frame of a press release to add color and context for employees. The idea is to always answer the question, “What does this mean to us?”
Mr. Foremski wants to kill the press release for media relations. Even if your organization hasn’t yet followed this advice, I encourage you to eradicate the use of releases in employee communication.
Posted by Alison Davis at April 21, 2008 08:08 AM