in General

Are press releases dead?

That’s what Tom Foremski of SiliconValleyWatcher thinks in his article, Die! Press Release! Die!

Foremski states;

The press release is a statement announcing a product, service, office opening, financial results, partnership, customer win, and a hundred other types of commercial activities.

Press releases are nearly useless. They typically start with a tremendous amount of top-spin, they contain pat-on-the-back phrases and meaningless quotes. Often they will contain quotes from C-level executives praising their customer focus. They often contain praise from analysts, (who are almost always paid or have a customer relationship.) And so on…

Press releases are created by committees, edited by lawyers, and then sent out at great expense through Businesswire or PRnewswire to reach the digital and physical trash bins of tens of thousands of journalists.

Essentially, Foremski says that lack humanity, doesn’t get to the truth of the story or is wrapped in so much spin that the story becomes a boring, pointless non-story, and spells out a plan on how to make the information in a press release useful.

Die! Press Release! Die! (original article by Tom Foremski).