How is the news release adapting to the digital environment? This is a question I have pondered a lot recently and got a chance to ask at a marketing and PR panel this weekend. Sadly, no one could give me a satisfying answer. Maybe you can ponder with me?
News releases work well in the traditional media ecosystem. PR specialists pitch stories about their clients by contacting print publications, radio stations and TV channels. Usually, they spread the same content--press releases, event announcements, interviews--across different platforms in an attempt to increase publicity for their customers.
But this dynamic changes with the shift of traditional media online. In the era of convergence, we see the birth of hybrid media models and the intersection of video, audio and text on the Web. Unlike in traditional media, however, the delivery platform of digital news remains the same: all content is flying on the wings of the Internet.
Distributing the same content in the same environment raises some concerns.
Readers will inevitably feel disappointed by the lack of original reporting and the way too obvious copy-and-paste. Ten years ago, a New York Times reader might not have been a BBC viewer. But today's audiences are accessing multiple sources of information and entertainment. Why would they remain loyal to one brand if other online newspapers are offering the absolute same coverage, distributed by an old-school PR agency? And how would advertisers react to a media organization that is losing its loyal readership?
Undoubtedly, the news release has to adapt to its new primary environment. It can no longer be only a denizen of print publications, radio stations or TV channels. The digital ecosystem has demanded a different approach from PR specialists. What would their response be?
Photo credits: bestfor / richard, when i was a bird, Susan NYC, Annie Ok, Tonymadrid Photography
