Press Releases for a Digital Age (Blog 6)

During my PR undergrad I was taught that the most important tool for a PR professional was a press release. As information dissimination and retrieval becomes more popular and mainstream on the Internet, older methods of traditional practice have declined. However, the use and effectiveness of a press release has remained just as effective. The most significant and obvious difference is that the press release is now predominantly digital.

The transition to the new digital medium offers numerous benefits that greatly enhances a press release. First and foremost, press releases can be released at a much quicker rate. Digital press releases simultaneously allow for a much wider disbursement to multiple outlets at the same time. Although an organization may be tempted to cut out the traditional media outlets and distribute a press release themselves, that it is ill advised to do so. However, it is possible to do both. By distributing a press release through both traditional and digital means it ensures that an organization's target public(s) will be easier to reach. This also allows PR professionals to possess greater control over the information they release.

Finally, a press release is still the main component of an organization's media kit. Organization's can fully utilize media kits by posting the information on their websites, providing it through rss feeds, and using other forms of online social media. It is possible to use media kits, with press releases at the helm, to navigate the stormy oceans of the media and arrive safely in the information port that an organization so chooses.