Thursday, November 02, 2006
The Press Release Turns 100, Faces Change
byThe press release turned 100 years old this week, and Search Engine Watch used the occasion to provide a big-picture view of its past and future evolution.
Writer Greg Jarboe highlights the work of Ivy Lee, who wrote the first press release on behalf of the Pennsylvania Railroad following a train accident in rural New Jersey. After journalists later become suspicious of Lee’s motives, he issued a Declaration of Principles that described his commitment to providing accurate, useful and timely information to journalists. These priorities – and the media’s distrust of public relations – obviously remain significant issues today.
As Jarboe notes, the press release is at a crossroads as it faces the realities of new media. Several groups (like this one) are proposing new ideas for optimizing press releases and making them more accessible online. These new tactics will be heavily scrutinized by the media – particularly as bad pitches continue to grow and legitimate news becomes harder to find.
Even if public relations practitioners agree on a new press release approach, adoption will be a long process. Like the general online population, most reporters don’t yet depend on RSS and other social media tools. The old way will prevail until the new approaches become too irresistible – and too common – to ignore.
