Will Blogs Replace Press Releases?
Bruce Lowry of Novell told The Economist that he can imagine blogs "completely replacing press releases within 10 years." It's a bold thought; does it hold water?
No doubt, the Web has tranformed public relations and changed the nature of the press release. Releases now have to be written with the assumption that everyone will read them. So a company's messages must be consistent -- which, frankly, hasn't always been the case in the past.
For example, before the late 90s, I can point to many examples where CEOs spoke to their Wall Street investors (through news releases as well as conference calls) in a very different way than they spoke to employees and customers. A layoff, for example, is often a positive for a company's stock price, while it's obviously anything but positive for employees. And investors love to hear that a company's products are earning higher margins than those of the competition; but a customer might see or hear the same message and think, "I'm getting ripped off!"
The Internet era has had the effect of forcing companies to integrate their messages more tightly, so they're saying the same thing to everybody. This is a good thing. But is the next step to move away from press releases altogether and on to blogs?
I can't imagine it anytime soon. I think more and more companies will add blogs as a new channel of communication. Some early corporate-affiliated blogs, like those of Robert Scoble (Microsoft) and Jonathan Schwartz (Sun), are excellent; they have the frankness and intimacy that a good blog requires. But I'm afraid many corporations will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into this new arena. Most large corporations are accustomed to top-down leadership and tight control of messages, and blogging runs counter to this.
Time will tell. Whatever happens, I look forward to being part of it.
posted by Scott Baradell at
9:52 AM
5 Comments:
10 years huh? Hasn't the press release been around for about 80 years? Wire services, fax machines, e-mail and the Internet didn't kill it -- it just keeps evolving with each new delivery method. I doubt that blogs will replace the venerable press release, especially since Reg FD requires us to PUSH each release to a mass audience, whereas a blog by its nature is designed to PULL readers to itself.
By
Joy Jennings, at 3/24/2005
True. It's only a matter of time before a corporate blogger puts out information that he or she isn't allowed to by SEC rules. I'm sure we'll eventually have a warning, fines or worse.
Eventually, I think the blog entries of public companies may need to be pushed to disclosure media via e-mail.
By
SB, at 3/24/2005
In many ways, the press releases have already arrived and most seem to be rather transparent about the fact. As evidenced below, they form a part of an informative interactive blogging world ...
CEO Press releases
By
Jozef Imrich, Esq., at 3/25/2005
I have long posited the theory that press releases these days are designed for every audience apart from the press... For public companies, they will remain an important way of complying with RegFD for material news. I don't think press releases will be usurped by blogs, since blogs are of their nature discursive and opinion-based rather than news-based. However, I do think that RSS feeds of short, factual news could - and should - do away with the need for most press releases.
By
Judy, at 4/01/2005
I've been studying for the APR, and so far not one person in class could pinpoint how to use a Blog in their corporate and non-profit communications to replace the press release, let alone for furthing their goals.
I see Blogs and RSS feeds as just another channel, although I think Judy hit it on the head: RSS will force companies to deliver simple messages quickly and pull readers into the extended message.
By
Court Information Office, at 1/06/2006
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