A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considered a primary source, meaning they are original informants for information. A press release is traditionally composed of nine structural elements, including a headline, dateline, introduction, body, and other components. Press releases are typically delivered to news media electronically, ready to use, and often subject to "do not use before" time, known as a news embargo.
A special example of a press release is a communiqué [1] ( /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪ/ ; French: [kɔmynike] ), which is a brief report or statement released by a public agency. A communiqué is typically issued after a high-level meeting of international leaders.
Using press release material can benefit media corporations because they help decrease costs and improve the amount of material a media firm can output in a certain amount of time. Due to the material being pre-packaged, press releases save journalists time, not only in writing a story, but also the time and money it would have taken to capture the news firsthand. [2]
Although using a press release can thus save a news outlet time and money, it constrains the format and style of its content. In addition, press releases are favorable towards the organization that commissioned or issued them, framing the topic according to its preferred criteria. In the digital age, consumers want to get their information instantly, bringing about pressure on the news media to output as much material as possible. This may cause news media companies to heavily rely on press releases to create stories. [2]
Any information deliberately sent to a reporter or media source is considered a press release. This information is released by the act of being sent to the media. Public relations professionals often follow a standard professional format for press releases. Additional communication methods that journalists employ include pitch letters and media advisories. Generally, a press release body consists of four to five paragraphs with a word limit ranging from 400 to 500. [3] Press release length varies and can range from 300 to 800 words. [4]
Common structural elements include:
As the Internet has assumed growing prominence in the 24-hour news cycle, press release writing styles have evolved. Editors of online newsletters, for instance, often lack the staff to convert traditional press release prose into the print-ready copy. [5]
In the traditional distribution model, the business, political campaign, or other entity releasing information to the media hires a publicity agency to write and distribute written information to the newswires. [6] The newswire then scatters the information as it is received or as investigated by a journalist. Thus, resulting in the information or announcement becoming public knowledge.
An alternative model is the self-published press release. In this approach, press releases are either sent directly to local newspapers or to free and paid distribution services. [7] The distribution service then provides the content, as-is, to their media outlets for publication which is usually communicated via online. This approach is often used by political institutions, for example. Another instance would be, Constitutional Courts in Europe, [8] U.S. Supreme Court, [9] [10] and the U.S. State Supreme Courts [11] issue press releases about their own decisions and the news media use these self-published releases for their reporting. [12] [13]
Some public relations firms send out video news releases (VNRs) which are pre-taped video programs or clips that can be aired intact by TV stations.
Video news releases may include interviews of movie-stars. These interviews, which have been taped on a set, are located at the movie studio and decorated with the movie's logo.
Video news releases can be in the form of full-blown productions as well. This costs tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to be produced. Video news releases can also be in the format of TV news, or even produced specifically for the web.
Some broadcast news outlets have discouraged the use of video news releases because of citing a poor public perception. It could also be viewed as a desire to increase their credibility.
Furthermore, VNRs can be turned into podcasts and then posted onto newswires. A story can also be kept running longer by simply engaging "community websites". "Community websites" are monitored and commented on by many journalists and feature writers.
If a press release is distributed before the information is intended to be released to the public it is considered embargoed. An embargo requests that news organizations not report the story until a specified date or time.
Unless the journalist has signed a legally binding non-disclosure agreement agreeing to honor the embargo in advance, the journalist has no legal obligation to withhold the information. However, violating the embargo risks damaging their relationship with the issuing organization and their reputation as a writer or journalist. News organizations are sometimes blacklisted after breaking an embargo. [14] Publicists are often encouraged to only share embargoed information with journalists they have an established relationship with and/or are wiling to commit to withholding the information until a predesignated time.
Ivy Lee, known as the father of modern public relations, made the first press release in October 1906 about a railroad accident involving the Pennsylvania Railroad. The accident caused the death of fifty people in Atlantic City, New Jersey (known as the Atlantic City train wreck). Lee documented the accident and gave out reports to fellow reporters. The biggest turning point was the honesty that Lee wrote regarding the accident and how truthful it was. [15] The New York Times distributed his exact statement and observations.
Due to Lee's influence, press releases have evolved into a necessity for key details among companies to disclose to the public. Since then, press releases have been used to inform other journalists, PR's, and other media relation people of important events, statistics, and announcements. [16]
Mass media includes the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication.
A video news release (VNR) is a video segment made to look like a news report, but is instead created by a PR firm, advertising agency, marketing firm, corporation, government agency, or non-profit organization. They are provided to television newsrooms to shape public opinion, promote commercial products and services, publicize individuals, or support other interests. News producers may air VNRs, in whole or in part, at their discretion or incorporate them into news reports if they contain information appropriate to a story or of interest to viewers.
Australian Associated Press (AAP) is an Australian news agency. It was established by Keith Murdoch in 1935.
CNW Group Ltd., also called Canada Newswire and CNW, is a commercial press release service owned by Cision. Cision Distribution services in Canada are powered by Canada Newswire. The service is offered stand-alone or as part of its flagship Cision Communications Cloud platform for PR professionals.
Associated Press Television News, also referred to as AP Video and AP Television News, is a global video news agency operated by the Associated Press (AP).
In journalism and public relations, a news embargo or press embargo is a request or requirement by a source that the information or news provided by that source not be published until a certain date or certain conditions have been met. They are often used by businesses making a product announcement, by medical journals, and by government officials announcing policy initiatives; the media is given advance knowledge of details being held secret so that reports can be prepared to coincide with the announcement date and yet still meet press time.
Craig Waters is a former public information officer and communications director for the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee from June 1, 1996, through February 28, 2022. He worked in the open government and First Amendment rights as a lawyer and governmental official. He was also the public spokesman for the Court during the 2000 presidential election controversy. He announced lawsuit rulings regarding Florida's vote in the election.
WikiLeaks is a media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is a non-profit and is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, an Australian editor, publisher, and activist, who is currently challenging extradition to the United States over his work with WikiLeaks. Since September 2018, Kristinn Hrafnsson has served as its editor-in-chief. Its website states that it has released more than ten million documents and associated analyses. WikiLeaks' most recent publication of original documents was in 2019 and its most recent publication was in 2021. From November 2022, numerous documents on the organisation's website became inaccessible. In 2023, Assange said that WikiLeaks is no longer able to publish due to his imprisonment and the effect that US government surveillance and WikiLeaks' funding restrictions were having on potential whistleblowers.
Cision Ltd. is a public relations and earned media software company and services provider. The company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to offering Cision-branded services, the company owns a portfolio of companies including PRNewswire, PRWeb, Bulletin Intelligence, L'Argus de la presse, Help a Reporter Out (HARO), CEDROM-SNI, Prime Research, and Canada Newswire.
Censorship in Brazil, both cultural and political, occurred throughout the whole period following the colonization of the country. Even though most state censorship ended just before the period of redemocratization that started in 1985, Brazil still experiences a certain amount of non-official censorship today. The current legislation restricts freedom of expression concerning racism and the Constitution prohibits the anonymity of journalists.
GlobeNewswire provides press release distribution services globally, with substantial operations in North America and Europe.
On 5 July 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing what it called the Syria Files, a collection of more than two million emails from Syrian political figures and ministries and from companies including Finmeccanica and Brown Lloyd James dating from August 2006 to March 2012. The emails were hacked by Anonymous before being given to WikiLeaks for release.
An investor application is a mobile application designed to distribute information about publicly traded companies. It can provide general investor information or be company specific. There are two types of investor apps: Native investor apps and HTML5 investor apps. Most investor apps offer access to public company content such as stock quotes, corporate materials, fact sheets, presentations and marketing materials as well as information sharing through social media channels and email.
The Daniel Galván scandal was a political scandal in which Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco, issued a pardon for a Spanish convicted serial child-rapist named Daniel Galván. The Spanish citizen was serving a 30 years prison sentence. He was arrested in Morocco in late 2011, for having raped at least 11 Moroccan children in Kenitra—a city he had been living in since 2004. The pardon came some 18 months after his incarceration as part of a diplomatic gesture from Mohammed VI to Spain, on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of his enthronement. The pardon sparked unprecedented popular outrage in Morocco where several protests were held denouncing the monarch's decision. This prompted Mohammed VI to first issue a communiqué in which he denied being "aware of the gravity of the crimes committed by Daniel Galvan", then to "cancel" his pardon but only after the Spanish citizen had already left the country several days before on an expired passport—with the knowledge of Moroccan authorities. It was revealed later that this was not the first time Mohammed VI had pardoned a convicted foreign paedophile, having pardoned Hervé Le Gloannec, a French citizen convicted of child rape and child pornography in 2006.
Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games, typically based on a core "reveal–preview–review" cycle. With the prevalence and rise of independent media online, online publications and blogs have grown.
Vocus was a public relations software company based in Beltsville, Maryland, United States, serving clients worldwide from 1992 to 2014. In addition to its web-based PR software suites, the company owns the online publicity services, PRWeb and Help a Reporter Out (HARO). Vocus was founded in 1992 by Rick Rudman and Bob Lentz and was a publicly held company until June 2014 when it was taken private by Chicago-based private equity company GTCR. The company operates additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Since late 2014, the company merged with Cision AB to form Cision Inc. as the succeeding company.
Stationed in Bell, CA, the 222nd Broadcast Operations Detachment (BOD) is an Army Reserve public affairs unit that is capable of operating an Armed Forces Network (AFN) radio/television station as well as providing media relations support for the U.S. Army Reserves, Regular Army, and Department of Defense. Their products include videography packages such as video news releases (VNR), B-Roll packages, veteran history projects, and training videos. Most recently, the 222nd supported the U.S. Army's public affairs mission with two, year-long tours of duty in Baghdad, Iraq, were the unit was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), 2003–2004. The 222nd BOD supports the 201st Press Camp Headquarters (PCH) in Bell, CA, and the 63rd Regional Support Command (RSC) in Mountain View, CA.
A media lock-up is a security procedure typically associated with politically sensitive disclosures and press conferences. During a media lock-up, accredited journalists receive advance access to information and expert advisers in order to assist with the accuracy of their reporting on matters disclosed. A media lock-up ends when a timed embargo on the release of information is lifted.
Phineas Fisher is an unidentified hacktivist and self-proclaimed anarchist revolutionary. Notable hacks include the surveillance company Gamma International, Hacking Team, the Sindicat De Mossos d'Esquadra and the ruling Turkish Justice and Development Party three of which were later made searchable by WikiLeaks.
Illinois Public Access Opinion 16‑006 is a binding opinion of the Illinois Attorney General pursuant to the state's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Issued in 2016 in the aftermath of the police murder of Laquan McDonald, the opinion addressed a public records request from Cable News Network (CNN) for private emails by officers of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) related to the incident. After the CPD denied CNN's request, the Attorney General's office, led by Lisa Madigan, ruled that the police officers' private emails about McDonald's murder were subject to public disclosure, even though those emails were communicated on accounts outside of the police department's email servers.
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