Good News Gal

Re-Releasing News

I tuned into PR Newswire's webinar on building media relations. Edward Correia, editor of B2 Media's Software Test & Performance magazine, was the keynote speaker.

One of the key points that Correia touched on during the webinar was about re-releasing news, in particular redistributing a press release.  He strongly encourages PR folks not to do it. Correia's claim, and I agree, is that if you can re-release a story then it is not really newsworthy. Usually, if your pitch did not get picked up it's because the topic has been covered previously or the journalist was never interested in the topic in the first place.

In the PR role, your job is deliver newsworthy information to the appropriate media in a timely manner. How can you redistribute a release with the same information and consider it news? You can't - it's stale.

However, there is one exception to this rule. If there has been a change in the announcement (further findings, new discoveries, advancements, you're able to tie into something that is time sensitive, etc.), you can modify the release and redistribute it with the updated information.

I must advise you that if you have a good, solid reason to re-release information that it is best to change the headline so that it does not get mistaken as regurgitated information.

Most often I find that soft news is not time sensitive. So you may get away with redistributing it at a later date, if you tie it into something that is time sensitive such as a national news feed, the time of year, etc.

Here's a great example of how soft news does not get stale.This is a situation where the reporter held off on running the interview for a few months.  It goes to show that I could probably redistribute this "soft" news release to the outlets that did not pick it up, especially since the benefits of the exercise have not changed.

A client of mine, Pilates Plus, recently introduced a new form of exercise to the Rochester market called Gyrotonic. The golfers (and pros too) are going wild over it, by the way. NBC affiliate, WHEC TV 10, came out to the studio back in September to conduct the interview.

The story just ran this past week. Click here to view the it (make sure to check out the video clip ~ I think it was pieced together extremely well). The exercise was presented as a new way to get in shape, especially for those who overate at Thanksgiving.

I am curious to hear whether or not you think it is OK to re-release news. Do you think that a topic is not really a newsworthy topic, if you can still go to the press with it at a later date?

Live Blog from BlogHer Business '07: The Press Release Must Die

Session: The Press Release Must Die

Summary: The new social media press release. How it works. Does it work? How social media tools are changing the face of PR.

Panel: Moderator - Erin Kotecki-Vest (EK), a social media press release pioneer from Shift PR - Julie Crabill (JC), and MarketWatch's Bambi Francisco (BF).

(Please note that most of what I am blogging is a summary of the discussion taking place.)

The session begins with an introduction of the panel and an overview of who is in the audience (it looks like an pretty even mix of publicists, bloggers and a few non-bloggers).

First question:

Can you explain the social media press release & what is in it?

JC: Social Media press release empowers a two way conversation allowing for it from the corporation side of things.

The idea is that it gives you contact info (very important) & for "hot" news - hot links to 24 hour contact, headline, core news fact, rss feeds & delicious feeds that the company has created, photo links mp3 files, podcasts, logos, pre approved quotes from analysts, corp execs, links to relevant coverage, & boilerplate. Not a blog post, but becomes more interactive in hopes to promote dialog with customers.  Put it on the wire and/or corporate site. The bus wire, pr web, pr news wire are OK with the social media format.

(a member of the audience points out that.. if you have a good story, at the end of hte day it doesn't matter how you package it as long as you get it out.

What is the difference between an old school press release & the social media press release?
(BF) I've been a journalist for over 15 years and haven't used a press release very often. I look at them for what they are useful for (names, titles, exec names) & not for facts. I never used quotes. As a journalist, I always needs statistics (traffic, comp landscape, links to relevant resource) that help shape the story vs quotes. At the end of day I don't want to sound like other journalist - I try not to take anything from that story - but a different angle companies are now forthright with their information. Info exchange has been created. Buyers (bloggers & journalist) of info are looking for facts, photos, videos, etc. It will be interesting to watch as the broker of info changes in the profession of PR.

JC: The social media press release is making it more interesting - telling a good story, building relationships with customers & bloggers.

(audience members adds that generally journalists like exclusives. How do we manage the fine line between giving "good stuff" and needing to hold back some because the outlet won't cover me if I don't?

JC: It's about working with journalists to find out the story that they want. Here is the press release that is just the fact, give them stats, market trends, what the company is doing different, but have a conversation to share what is new & different.

BF: Spend less time sharing all the info that journalists already have & more time servicing your customer.