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Why The News Release Is Worthless In Today's Social Media Age

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As I've previously written on my company's blog, news releases, in most cases, are a worthless bother.

Yes, there are times when they are a necessary evil. Earnings releases come to mind as they contain legally binding statements. But the traditional news release is a dreadful animal--read by few--and should be put out of its misery.

I receive at least 10 relatively illegible news releases daily (and many reporters tell me they get up to 300 each day). And rarely, if ever, can I get past the subject line in my e-mail inbox. Most of them simply seem to take up space.

To think that in the days of "The Love Boat" and "Magnum P.I.," news releases actually helped facilitate news stories. Now, a free service like Peter Shankman's HARO (Help A Reporter Out) provides a far more effective reactive medium to solicit information to a reporter. And there are just a few PR people left who still know how to proactively pitch--keep it concise, relevant and don't make it all about your client, but a broader trend.

"It's not conversational or engaging, and the only way to capture attention is with a racy headline, which journalists see past," said Jason Kintzler, a former reporter who founded and nowadays leads PitchEngine.com, a social media news release service that allows companies like H&R Block and Budweiser to bypass traditional media outlets and serve customers and influencers directly.

I recently helped announce the licensing of a new high profile video gaming experience.  Instead of spending $1,000-plus on a news release--and it was definitely what most would consider news release worthy due to the brands involved--we simply sent out a two-sentence pitch to a few important news outlets, including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Rolling Stone and Billboard.

Once the stories posted on January 13, it spread throughout traditional media, the blogosphere and social media platforms and, in essence, we received the same effect as a news release might have had in the times of Alex P. Keaton.

So because I want the space back in my e-mail inbox, my question remains: Why are my fellow PR people still writing and distributing so many worthless news releases?

"It's the easy-button," said Kintzler of PitchEngine. "In most cases, companies are still writing for their CEOs, not their audience. If they really consider it, they should write for them, not at them. Marketing speak is so 1950."