The state of the media has opened opportunities for PR practitioners to place stories directly into mainstream news. As Conan O’Brien demonstrated on his show, more journalists are “ripping and reading” news releases word-for-word as a result of smaller newsroom budgets and fewer journalists and original stories.
We’ve urged PR pros to use this opportunity to develop more newsworthy and balanced content. Caution is critical — especially with announcements that are quickly assembled or “newsjacked” to blend in with trending news. Much of this content developed for social media and direct publication may not go through the typically rigorous corporate copy review process.
PR’s new power to post like a journalist adds the responsibility to fact-check like a journalist. PR writers must thoroughly check and double-check names, spelling, quotations, numbers and facts before publishing news.