Social Media Transform the Press Release

More than a century ago, Ivy Lee began the now-standard practice of issuing press releases directly to newspapers when he responded to a rail accident for his client, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Lee delivered official releases to newspapers, detailing Pennsylvania Railroad’s commitment to the rescue efforts and deflecting criticism, noting that “the equipment of the train was entirely new, having been in service but a few weeks, and is believed to have been perfect in every particular.”¹

Lee’s direct approach worked, as the release was carried in full in newspapers like the New York Times. By reaching out to the press and opening the channels of communication, Lee was able to help his client escape complete blame for the accident, thus reducing the railroad’s liability and preserving its profits and reputation.

Today, the press release continues in much the same century-old form: a statement on behalf of the client’s interests, written in news style, and sent directly to the press. But the news media have since drastically changed. Along with print newspapers, broadcast media have become part of the press; more recently, all news forms have merged online, with a host of new Web-based news sites and mobile apps.With the changes in the news media comes a new form of the press release—the social media release. The PR industry recognizes that not only is the American public turning to the Internet for its news but journalists are growing more comfortable with researching their articles online, interviewing their subjects via e-mail, and using a variety of media in their stories—from text and hyperlinks to video and audio.

SHIFT Communications, a Boston-based independent public relations firm, offered a popular template for a social media press release in 2006 (and released version 1.5 in 2008).² The firm suggested social media release contains a headline and contact information, like the old press release, but puts the narrative in bullet points and includes embedded Web links to photos, videos, podcasts, pre-approved quotes, trackbacks to blogs linking to related news, and RSS feed links for updates—in short, an online newsroom to aid a multimedia journalist and bolster the information typically provided in a traditional press release. According to Todd S. DeFren of SHIFT Communications, “The Social Media Press Release merely amplifies prospective source materials; it does not replace a well-crafted, customized pitch nor replace the need to provide basic, factual news to the media.”³

But as the news release adapts to social media, another public relations professional, Gary Shankman of Help a Reporter Out (HARO), cautions against public relations becoming too enamored of social media and sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. In his blog entry titled “Why I Will Never, Ever Hire a ‘Social Media Expert,’” Shankman argues that social media are just tools and not a substitute for transparency, relevance, and good writing. “Social media, by itself, will not help you,” Shankman writes. “We’re making the same mistakes that we made during the DotCom era, where everyone thought that just adding the term.com to your corporate logo made you instantly credible. It didn’t.”⁴

The social media press release isn’t the only format that’s available for public relations professionals these days. Corporate communications consultant Dominic Jones endorses simplicity for today’s press release: a twenty-five-word summary and a linked headline that takes readers to the client’s Web site. “The single purpose of news releases today should be to get people to link to the details on our websites,” Jones says. “To do that, we only need to convince them that it’s worth their while to click the link.”⁵