Social media does seem to be taking
over from the media release, doesn’t it? Today, all we need is 140 characters
and a tweet is composed and people are informed. Social media now has the most
trending and newsworthy events happening in and around the world.
We would like it if media releases were
to die won’t we? It would save us the time of drafts, checking grammar
and spelling and the headache of a deadline. But they not quite dead, not by a long shot. They still
hold a very important purpose as they provide us with facts; they make
important announcements and also provide stakeholders with information. It
feels like the question that media releases are dead because of the increase of
social media will always make headlines. But I ask; why can’t they just work
together?
Social media and media releases in a
way are working together without us realizing it. A brand has a media
conference and announces their new management on a media release and who do
they invite? The press, exactly and a journalist’s first instinct is to take
the news to social media, it becomes a Facebook status or a tweet. If you ask
me, I would say that’s social media and media releases working well together.
But the question that still goes
through my mind, if a big and well-known brand like Coca-Cola which is the
second biggest brand around the world is killing their press release by 2015 (http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/Why_the_press_release_is_not_dead_16340.aspx), it makes me question the future of media
releases. For how long will it be of use in the Public Relations industry?
Probably just for another few years but I doubt it will be more than 10 years.
I say media releases don’t have to
die; people just have to improve on their writing skills and become better
writers. And Diane Schwartz group of PR News, also reckons media releases are
not dead (http://youtu.be/_is-t3jarzQ). We as the future Public Relations Practitioners have to make
them more interesting and intriguing enough for journalist’s to read and
publish. When writing a media release, there has to be a set goal you are
trying to achieve. Writing for your intended audience is what will make your
media release interesting, you have to know and understand you audience. That
way you will always get it right, your writing will be satisfactory to your
audience and it will have purpose.
