Writing News Releases For Readers?
Press Releases As Brand Journalism?
My former PR agency boss and mentor Kathy Keenan was a proponent of using creativity in writing news releases when the chance presented itself. As long as you could find the angle and make it work.
Writing about a the Next Generation Fluidic Quad Core Gyroscopic Infinite Channel Microprocessor? Instead tell a story about a kid seeing the World Series for the first time.
Releasing State of the Art Static Reprocessing Compiler Software Version 4.0? Instead tell about the Indian kid who grew up in a small village that had no paved roads, and was so poor he didn’t have a pair of shoes until he left for college to attend the Indian Institutes of Technology.
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Even 13 years ago, when I worked for Kathy, most press releases were only read by the people who wrote and approved them, and for good reason. No one can eviscerate a living, breathing press release faster or cleaner than a failed engineer who is now a failed head of marketing for a Silicon Valley company.
“Brand Journalism is when any organization—B2B company, consumer product company, the military, nonprofits, government agencies, politicians, churches, rock bands, solo entrepreneurs—creates valuable information and shares it with the world.
“Brand Journalism is not a product pitch. It is not an advertorial. It is not an egotistical spewing of gobbledygook-laden corporate drivel. ”
Source David Meerman Scott
Editors Are People Too
Kathy’s reasoning was the reporters were human, and they loved a good story, too. They were much more likely to read a headline that was intriguing and stood out than the typical XYZ Corp Announces…blah, blah, blah.
She suggested having fun with headlines, and writing a less “traditional” dry release in favor of a style that created a story. A compelling narrative. One that any person interested in the subject mater would WANT to read on a airplane or on a Sunday morning.
If the writing style and quality moderately meets a journalistic standard, I have been in favor of smart companies and their PRs writing the story that they could reasonably except a good reporter would write. One that attracted readers because it was interesting and news worthy, and clearly avoided being a candidate for being heaved on to the rather large bonfire of marketing dreckitude with the others.
Press Releases As News Worthy
Legally required releases aside, can press releases and their distribution be used as a publishing platform aimed at both reporters and target customers? What do you think?
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About Steve Farnsworth @Steveology
Steve Farnsworth provides digital/social media marketing, branded journalism, content creation and marketing for lead generation to companies so they can increase customer preference for their brand, shorten their sales cycles, and generate better qualified leads. Call 650-331-0594 for digital/social media marketing training and workshops for your company.
Steve Farnsworth's Old Blog 
Joan Stewart (@PublicityHound)
September 23, 2011
Great tips, Steve. By chance, do you have the links to any of Kathy’s releases that you mentioned above?
Steve Farnsworth A.K.A. @Steveology
September 23, 2011
Unfortunately, no. As the agency principle her staff did most the writing, and for the most part her staff lacked the confidence and vision to execute this idea. However, a few did get written. Thinking back I can think of about 6 examples, one being from Kathy. She retired out of PR in 1999-ish. So, no examples remain that I can find on the interwebs.
The baseball one was a real example. It was done for a graphics chip news release from a Philips Semiconductor subsidiary, whose name escapes me now days. The story of the Indian boy is real, a software CEO I worked for, but I never wrote that news release. He didn’t want his story to be public information. He was ashamed of his humble origins.
I have seen a few other news releases over the years done as news stories. If you, or anyone reading this comes across one, please post a link here.
KnowProSE LLC (@knowprose)
September 23, 2011
I think a solid press release is a lot more than ‘xyz releases blah blah blah’. It’s supposed to be internal journalism carried to external journalism; it’s supposed to be factual yet not dry; it’s supposed to be about a product or service worthwhile instead of overmarketed; it’s about (in this modern age) opening a discussion instead of answering all the questions.
Any company that does a press release in a social media world and doesn’t want discussion is… of a breed that happily perches itself next to the kiwi.
Steve Farnsworth A.K.A. @Steveology
September 23, 2011
Thank you for your comment! I agree that a solid press release is a lot more than ‘xyz releases blah blah blah’. However, I sadly give you PRNewswire’s Business Technology News feed: where you will find “solid” releases few and far between: http://prn.to/qOFP8v
Indeed, a release should open discussion and invite further dialog. Were you suggesting that a news story style press release would be unable to do that? What I’m recommending does both.
KnowProSE LLC (@knowprose)
September 23, 2011
No, not at all – a news story should be able to do what I’m saying. I’m just saying it’s a *requirement*. :-)
Emma
September 23, 2011
I guess I’ve always looked at press releases as more of teaser than the story itself: usually, it’s a pretty generically crafted document that’s mostly designed to generate some interest in whatever brand is at hand. The rest, then, is up to the writers covering the issue.
Then again, this preconceived knowledge set is derived from a career in plain old journalism, so the approach on a press release for brand marketing may differ completely. In your opinion, what’s the primary difference between a release for brand marketing and one for an event or other journalistic promotion?
Steve Farnsworth A.K.A. @Steveology
September 24, 2011
I’m not suggesting a one size fits all approach, e.g., don’t every use traditional news release. So, for an event, a media alert might make the most sense. So to answer your question for other kinds of releases, I would ask myself, “Is this news item, as a press release, likely to get picked up and get meaningful coverage based on my experience with journalists in this space?” If they answer was yes, then I’d write a solid news release. However, if the answer was no, then I’d would seriously consider writing it as a finished news story if I thought I’d gain greater readership by doing that. Also, I might actually get more pick up as a finished piece by online pubs who liked the style and story enough to run it as is or edited. Does that answer what you are asking?
Tom Foremski (@tomforemski)
September 23, 2011
A press release should be mostly factual, it’s best to let the journalist create the story. Otherwise, it becomes a news story and could put off others from writing a story. Also, it will confuse readers who might mistake it for a news story written by a neutral third party (some companies might welcome that deception).
Steve Farnsworth A.K.A. @Steveology
September 25, 2011
I wouldn’t suggest that a news style press release be anything other than factual. People smell BS just as much as they recognize boring.
With fewer publications, fewer reporters to run stories inspired by news releases, and even fewer “column inches” running, many releases, even if well written, don’t achieve any coverage. That means that those news releases that don’t get picked-up will be read more by readers following the company, via news release channels.
Given the brutal reality that even a good release containing real news may never find media coverage because they’re too narrow focused and/or niche, it makes sense to consider crafting a news release in as news story style to have greater impact on the readers who will see it. As for readers confusing a news release as a professional journalistic piece, I find that highly unlikely. Given the channel and style that is intrinsic to news releases are hard to mistake.
As always, thank you for commenting! I can’t think of anyone I’d rather disagree with, and I genuinely mean that in a good way.
Jonathan Potts (@jepotts)
September 24, 2011
I’m glad I got my start in PR promoting scientific research. We had to write compelling stories in our press releases. (In fact, my boss insisted on calling them “news releases.” I came to understand it wasn’t just a matter of semantics.) A well-written press release, carefully targeted, can still generate coverage.
Tom Foremski (@tomforemski)
October 28, 2011
A press release is not a news story and it shouldn’t be. A press release contains information about a news event, and it can be used as a news source but it’s not a news story in itself. You could create a news story and call it “brand journalism” but the two products are different.
Sports Collecting News
November 18, 2011
As someone who works in a mainstream outlet and also does my own thing, I can tell you that you’re far more likely to get noticed in BOTH arenas if you make me care about the story. As long as what you’re telling me is true, I’m going to be more apt to use it. Just as a news release needs to capture my attention in 10 seconds, so does a story on my website. Less work for me. If you’re BS’ing me, or not telling the whole truth, the internet community will jump on both of us fast anyway, so it’s generally workable in some instances, especially where there really isn’t any real question of potential harm to the reader. Non-profit groups are especially missing the boat here.
And publications may be dying, but online journalism is EXPLODING on every level. Everyone is desperate for content. Well-written content is golden.
Steve Farnsworth A.K.A. @Steveology
November 18, 2011
Great take. I absolutely agree.
Mark O'Toole (@markrotoole)
May 18, 2012
The challenges here when writing press releases are 1) satisfying clients’ needs 2) satisfying search engine needs (an absolute reality) and 3) assuming media will not pick up news from the majority of releases, leaving PR folks to hope that there is pick-up or write the release in story as if there won’t be pick-up.
It’s an interesting time in PR. Steve’s points support the press release as content as opposed to its original intent as nothing but the facts. And the tools we use to share the release ultimately make a difference in its form too. Writing for PR Web or PitchEngine is far different that writing something that is going directly to key media contacts.
Steve Farnsworth A.K.A. @Steveology
May 18, 2012
Great comments, Mark. Thank you. -S
Chris Brown (@macdailybites)
June 4, 2012
Steve, I believe that as long as the creative license does not take away from the truth of the release, and the reality of the announcement isn’t spun in a dishonest way, treating a PR/News release as a journalistic endeavor is great for communicating with the Media Public, and can give them more background and insight into the character of your brand.
Steve Farnsworth A.K.A. @Steveology
June 4, 2012
Chris, I think that is exactly right. The consumers of news have the ability to share their feedback with their social networks, and the publisher, in near real time. An organization’s “Truthiness” is under constant scrutiny. Any communications pro disregarding facts and reason boarders on extreme negligence of the professional nature.
iamchrisjtaylor
September 30, 2012
The next wave of PR pros will be Brand Journalists – coming from a member of that next wave!
Steve Farnsworth A.K.A. @Steveology
September 30, 2012
I think you are right. The biggest challenge is creating a clear vision that the hiring companies can understand and support about the level of journalism required to meet a brand journalism standard. Companies are use to having high-control on what is written on their dime, and like their copy biased. Unfortunately, for them, readers know BS when they read it and give such writing a very low trust factor if they bother reading it at all.
Trace Cohen (@Trace_Cohen)
January 28, 2013
Agreed! I would call it a “news release” as it is more a story for your community and less focused on the press covering you. It’s a good habit to write your news more like a story, which most PR professionals are capable of doing (and a lot of them are former journalists). This is what I like to call “PR Journalism.”
The biggest problem I see though is that most press/news release are never posted on the company website/blog or online – generally only through email when they pitch it. This hurts your brand by not having your news searchable and you lose the benefits of SEO.
Andrew
February 17, 2013
Good post, Steve. I agree totally. Everyone loves a good story – even editors.