Like so many other aspects of journalism and public relations, media releases, including press releases, have changed greatly since the introduction of the internet. Let’s look at how the press release “evolved” with the addition of the internet.
The Evolution of the Press Release
As PR News Online says, the press release used to be written routinely for the media alone by PR. professionals. Then, big businesses began writing them in response to big news, financial updates, and crisis situations. Since the internet was introduced, press releases have been used far more frequently and for a number of additional purposes.
How Press Releases are Used Today
So why and how has the internet impacted the way press releases are created and distributed? The internet has made information, and more importantly in our situation, news, much more accessible. PR professionals learned to use the internet as a tool to increase the visibility of their clients. They do this by inserting keywords into the copy and optimizing the copy for search (for more information on SEO, visit this site.)
Press releases today are not created only for journalists and media outlets; they are also created for the buyer/consumer directly. Press releases are written constantly about anything that could be considered newsworthy about the client.
Compare and Contrast
How does the new way of creating and distributing press releases compare to the old way? First off, the fact that they are constructed directly for the public increases the visibility of the release and the client. Second, with online releases allow for multiple forms of media to be included in the release. Online press releases are cost effective, and can be accessed forever.
There are so many benefits to using this “new” form of press release, and all PR professionals should be familiar with it.
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