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PRWeek: "Seventy-Five Percent of Journalists Prefer Media-Rich Releases"

Logo_prwOne of the oft-cited complaints about the Social Media News Release is that “many journalists are not ready for it.” 

 

After explaining that SMNRs mean that announcements are “not just for reporters anymore,” I often follow-on to suggest that any journalist who uses the web for research, etc., is primed for the SMNR.

 

Clare O’Connor of PRWeek U.K. recently wrote this piece (below), which seems to bolster the claims of SMNR advocates that “media-rich” releases are becoming a preferred method for the hoary ol’ press release…

 

Press releases with ‘a song and dance’

Clare O’Connor 18 Jul 2007, PRWeek UK

(Subscription reqd.)

 

Newly published research indicates that 75 per cent of journalists would prefer to receive media-rich press releases than a standard email or Word file attachment.

 

However, the bulk of the 128 journalists surveyed for the report by software designers Glide Technologies said they hardly ­ever receive such releases.

 

A media-rich press release is delivered via email, but differs from a standard release by linking directly back to a website where journalists can access additional information, high resolution images, video or sound clips, graphs and statistics. This means an end to large email attachments – or the need for journalists to chase photos.

 

‘For a press release to stand out, it really has to make a song and dance,’ said Will Ham-Bevan, deputy ­editor of Telegraph Create (The Telegraph’s advertorial unit).‘If I can click to a pack-shot at 300dpi, I am far more likely to use it.’

 

While still a minority, some PR agencies have started to tailor their press releases for an increasingly web-savvy crop of journalists and bloggers. Stephen Davies, social media manager at webitpr, has led the charge in the UK, recently using a media-rich release for Converseon, a New York-based client. Davies credits the easily accessible format, which included a YouTube video, with 25 pieces of coverage generated over two days.

 

Hat-tip to my friend Constantin Basturea of Converseon, who sent me this article.

Posted by Todd Defren on July 19, 2007 12:32 PM |

Comments

I tried to follow the link to the media-rich Converseon release, but the link was dead. We then visited the Converseon website, where the most recent press release is dated April 2006 (the actual dateline says '05) and carries a traditional format, except for a few keyword links. Did we miss something? Why pioneer media-rich releases and be sloppy in your online media room? We did find the blog interesting, however.

Posted by: Elrond Lawrence | July 19, 2007 07:59 PM

Hmm, Elrond, the link works for me. Here it is:

http://blogit.webitpr.com/?releaseid=6166

I can't speak to Converseon's newsroom, of course, but I do know those guys to be pretty smart folks overall. Maybe they are too busy with clients to do a great job on their own newsroom? Cobbler's children don't wear shoes?

Posted by: Todd Defren | July 20, 2007 10:59 AM

That must be the case, Todd! Thanks for the new link -- this one worked fine. Another person on our team had the same problem, so that's why we thought something was wrong. The risk of letting your virtual newsroom slip is this: if a journalist visited their site to get background on the company, they'd leave feeling that nothing of importance has happened for over a year.

In any event, this new release is a great example of blending the best elements of traditional and social media. Thanks for the blog entry.

Posted by: Elrond Lawrence | July 20, 2007 02:26 PM

Elrond, thank you for the feedback. Our redesigned media room is planned to go live in about a week - we'll keep you posted.

Posted by: Constantin Basturea | July 23, 2007 12:12 AM

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