Media releases used to be absolute must-haves in the newsroom office.
Faxes had not been invented, and journalists were still clacking on typewriters, phone calls were made on clunky desktop telephones and we had messengers who drove around the city collecting media releases from the city council, police station, coroner’s court and so on.
Today is a different scene altogether. Emails have replaced faxes, messengers and can be delivered by smart phones.
What has not changed though is what makes a good media release and when to use a release to get your story across. Boring releases head straight for the bin and good releases could as easily conveyed by a phone call with back up information.
But that is the journalist in us speaking.
Media releases still have a place in communication strategies but there are other ways of delivering news. These include:
- Tweet an interesting fact to appropriate journalists with a fact sheet or link to further information attached.
- Post articles on LinkedIn and then tweet the link
- Share the post with bloggers – we found this worked really well for our PR campaign for McAuley Community Services for Women’s #HighTeaAppeal
- Hold briefing sessions for key journalists on topics interesting to their portfolio: don't necessarily expect an immediate story but you will be seen as a useful source.
However before writing a media release, or even talking to a journalist, make sure that you have something interesting to say.
If you are not sure, don’t do anything until you are convinced. If you cannot convince yourself, the chances are it is not worth promoting.