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The news release: An idea whose time has gone?
B i l l L. B a x t e r
The News Release: An Idea Whose Time Has Gone? First, the good news: Newspaper editors do read news releases. Now, the bad news: Few editors ever run them in their publications. In this article, Bill Baxter reviews several studies of news release usage by editors and summarizes their criticisms of one of the oldest forms of public relations. Most editors complained that the news releases are much too general or contain too much "'advertising puffery" on behalf of the release writer's client. In reaction, Professor Baxter recommends some concrete steps public relations practitioners can take to bring their releases--and their knowledge of the news media in general--up to a new standard. Professor Baxter is on the faculty of the H.It. Herbert School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma.
I n a recent survey of 400 pub!it relations department heads, the news release topped the list of 'important" tools used by public relations chiefs, i Consequently, thousands of releases pour out daily from the nation's corporations, organizations, institutions and government agencies. Unfortunately, most aren't worth the paper they're written on and few ever get into print. In a spot check of city and managing editors from across the country, Chuck Honaker, communications director of Chicago's American College of Radiology, found that those editors seldom used more than five percent of the news releases they received. ~ One editor told Honaker, "As a managing editor for 24 years and a city editor of a metropolitan paper for five years before that, I have become very intimately involved with the problem of news releases. 27
Public
Relations
Review
I personally have seen this situation evolve into a crushing burden in the last 20 years. Every year it seems to get worse. "My colleagues and I have frequently commented on the sheer cost of postage alone to the public relations and advertising agencies for their mailing to the print media from coast to coast. Years ago I had an informal, unscientific, in-house survey run on this kind of mail. I did not ask the newsroom clerk to count it, but rather weigh it. Unhappily, I have lost the results of this trailblazing survey, but I remember at the time years ago it already had reached proportions of several pounds a day. It has grown far heavier since then. "I couldn't begin to give you a guess as to how many news releases we get per day. To say we receive dozens a day would not be an exaggeration. They come from everywhere. The sad thing is how many of them wind up in the wastebasket. ''s The city editor of a metropolitan daily paper told Honaker, "I'd estimate that we get 500 to 600 pieces of mail daily in the city room. That doesn't include sports, women's, letters to the editor, canned features, etc. It's just mail that we'll handle. "Of that amount, the business editor probably gets 50 to 60 a day and about 150 to 200 on M o n d a y - - t h e result of Friday and weekend mailings. The business editor estimates he uses perhaps 10 percent of the mail, either as background material for his files or for immediate use, usually as liners in adds to his column. "By the time the clerk in the city room has gone through the mail each day and dropped possible stories on my desk, I'd estimate there are perhaps 15 pieces worth considering, and we'll use maybe half of 9 that. In addition, some of the mail goes directly to reporters. It's a little hard to estimate how much of that is used, but I'd say it is miniscule. Generally, before they use anything like that, they clear it with me or someone else on the desk--and that's rare. "The blanket mailings nationwide are worthless. It's been my contention that most are written by PR men to impress their bosses or t o build up files to justify their jobs. With few exceptions, we pitch all releases unless they have some local angle--city or state. A few national releases might give us an idea for pursuing a medicial or educational feature, but rarely.'" In a 1978 study of Oklahoma's 13 largest daily newspapers by the University of Oklahoma's journalism school, editors said they used only eight percent of the news releases received from public relations sources. Most were rejected for lack of local interest or because they were too long or were overflowing with advertising puffery. 5 The remarks of this editor are typical of the respondents' views about these problems in the Oklahoma editor study: "The big sin is that too much of the material we receive has no real 28
News Release relevance tO local readers. The material is too general in nature. I have long felt that PR people should better their releases. You might send out 100 releases and only two or three get used, and t h e y are cut drastically. But if you send out, say, three or four written more for particular papers, you might find material used to a far greater extent."6 This editor's comments also reflected the majority's point of view: "To many PR people don't know the difference between news and advertising. The smart operator is one who works up a good angle for a story and only mentions the business or corporation well down in the story. I've always thought much of the material we receive was written to impress people within the organization and that the writer never really expected to see the story in print. ''7 In a 1979 National Newspaper Association sample survey of 50 daily and weekly editors, 80 percent of the editors reported that the bulk of the releases from corporations and government agencies are only of marginal value. The NNA survey found that 40 percent of the editors reported using only five percent or less of the releases received, a One-third of the editors said government releases are more useful than corporate counterparts, while one-quarter believe business does a better job, the NNA report said. All the editors in the survey declared that every government release they received required editing or rewriting to some degree. Fifty percent said the rewriting demanded ranged from fairly heavy to extensive, while 10 percent said complete rewriting was the rule.9 In an effort to get more of a scientific feel for the problem nationally, questionnaires were sent to the managing editors of 200 daily newspapers from throughout the 50 states. Every ninth newspaper listed among the 1,756 papers in the 1979 Editor & Publisher Yearbook comprised the national probability sample. In an effort to increase responses, a personal note encouraging participation was penned on each pre-printed cover letter. One hundred twenty-three replies were received from the initial mailing. This 61.5 percent response rate permits reasonable statistical inferences regarding how most daily newspapers feel about news release programs. The editors reported using only 9.2 percent of all releases received from public relations sources, including those from businesses, industries, organizations and government agencies. Several editors said they didn't use news releases at all, while one reported an 80 percent usage rate, the highest in the survey. To gauge the reasons for the unpopularity of news releases, respondents were asked to describe the problems they have with releases they 29
Public Relations
Review
receive. Five example categories were listed on the' questionnaire-"information not localized," "releases contain too much advertising puffery," "too long and cumbersome," "arrive too late," "are not newsworthy"--as was an open-ended "other" category. Respondents were asked to check the applicable categories and offer comments. The localization problem led the way, with 120 of the 123 respondents (97.5 percent) indicating this was the major deficiency in news releases. As one editor put it, "The local angle is the way to get a news release in the paper. It is something like shooting quail. If, on a covey rise, you point in the direction of the fleeing birds and fire, you will miss in the vast percentage of cases. If, however, you select one bird, aim and swing, you will usually connect." One hundred and two (82.9 percent) of the editors said that releases are not newsworthy; 101 (82.1 percent) indicated that they contain too much advertising puffery; 56 (45.5 percent) thought that releases were too long and cumbersome; and 34 (27.6 percent) felt that releases arrived too late to be useful. The most prevalent complaint in the "other" category was poor writing style. Twenty-eight (22.7 percent) of the respondents identified this as a problem. Other comments included: "Because the information contained in releases must compete for space with the output of 50 reporters, four major wire services, the syndicates and freelancers, the few releases we do use are reduced to a fraction of their original length." "Too many releases are just self-serving announcements." "Most releases we receive are an affront to our integrity." Commenting on whether or not it would make a difference to their editorial operation if they didn't receive PR releases, most editors in the Oklahoma editor study said that, despite the poor quality of releases, some do serve a useful purpose. ~~ "If releases stopped coming, we would miss a lot of stories, many of them good, based on tips we get from some releases," explained an Oklahoma editor. "We would be unable to expand and make assignments on a number of things, such as a major bank expansion, a major upturn in profits, etc.," he said. ~ "We would miss finanical statements from our area companies the most if releases were curtailed," said another editor. ~ The improvement of news release programs was a major recommendation emanating from a 1979 University of Oklahoma study of how news media-business relationships can be enhanced. Two hundred twenty newspaper editors and radio-television news directors and 90 business executives from across the country participated in the national random sample survey. ~3 The study showed the business-news media relationship to be
30
News Release fraught wit h tension, hostility and distrust because of a lack of understanding of each other's purposes, values and goals, and because of generally poor public relations-information programs among the country's businesses and corporations.l' The study concluded that ineffective news release programs are a significant part of the problem and recommended that they be streamlined. "Releases should be aimed more at specific media and localized for individual newspapers-television-radio-magazines as much as possible," the Oklahoma study advised. "Business publicists should insure that releases contain pure news and feature material about the business, not advertising puff. Releases should be well researched, short, concise--as near ready for publication (requiring the editor to do as little editing as possible) as the business news person can write them. This procedure will build respect for the business public relations office in the eyes of the media and will increase its effectivehess. ''Is
!
References 1Center, Alien H. "Canvassing the Calling," Public Relations Journal 33 (November 1977), pp. 40-41, 46. =Honaker, Chuck. "'When Your Releases Aren't Working," Public Relations Journal 34 (March 1978), pp. 16-19.
SIbid., p. 17. 'Ibid., p. 17.
""
6Baxter, Bill. "Oklahoma Editors Look for Local Angles in PR Releases," Publishers' Auxiliary, Feb. 12, 1979, p. 7. 6See unpublished report of 1978 Oklahoma editor study by Bill Baxter, University of Oklahoma School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Norman, Okla.
~lbid. ~"Editors Polled on Acceptability of News Releases." Editor & Publisher, Nov. 10, 1979, p. 30.
'Ibid., p. 30. ~~ cit., unpublished report, Baxter study. ~Op. cit., unpublished report, Baxter study. ~=Op. cit., unpublished report, Baxter study. l~Unpublishedstudy report (April 1979). "Business and the News Medla--What are the Roles of Each'/"University of Oklahoma School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Norman, Okla.
"Ibid., pp. 8-16 ~5.1bid., p. 30.
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The News Release: An Idea Whose Time Has Gone? First, the good news: Newspaper editors do read news releases. Now, the bad news: Few editors ever run them in their publications. In this article, Bill Baxter reviews several studies of news release usage by editors and summarizes their criticisms of one of the oldest forms of public relations. Most editors complained that the news releases are much too general or contain too much "'advertising puffery" on behalf of the release writer's client. In reaction, Professor Baxter recommends some concrete steps public relations practitioners can take to bring their releases--and their knowledge of the news media in general--up to a new standard. Professor Baxter is on the faculty of the H.It. Herbert School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma.
I n a recent survey of 400 pub!it relations department heads, the news release topped the list of 'important" tools used by public relations chiefs, i Consequently, thousands of releases pour out daily from the nation's corporations, organizations, institutions and government agencies. Unfortunately, most aren't worth the paper they're written on and few ever get into print. In a spot check of city and managing editors from across the country, Chuck Honaker, communications director of Chicago's American College of Radiology, found that those editors seldom used more than five percent of the news releases they received. ~ One editor told Honaker, "As a managing editor for 24 years and a city editor of a metropolitan paper for five years before that, I have become very intimately involved with the problem of news releases. 27
Public
Relations
Review
I personally have seen this situation evolve into a crushing burden in the last 20 years. Every year it seems to get worse. "My colleagues and I have frequently commented on the sheer cost of postage alone to the public relations and advertising agencies for their mailing to the print media from coast to coast. Years ago I had an informal, unscientific, in-house survey run on this kind of mail. I did not ask the newsroom clerk to count it, but rather weigh it. Unhappily, I have lost the results of this trailblazing survey, but I remember at the time years ago it already had reached proportions of several pounds a day. It has grown far heavier since then. "I couldn't begin to give you a guess as to how many news releases we get per day. To say we receive dozens a day would not be an exaggeration. They come from everywhere. The sad thing is how many of them wind up in the wastebasket. ''s The city editor of a metropolitan daily paper told Honaker, "I'd estimate that we get 500 to 600 pieces of mail daily in the city room. That doesn't include sports, women's, letters to the editor, canned features, etc. It's just mail that we'll handle. "Of that amount, the business editor probably gets 50 to 60 a day and about 150 to 200 on M o n d a y - - t h e result of Friday and weekend mailings. The business editor estimates he uses perhaps 10 percent of the mail, either as background material for his files or for immediate use, usually as liners in adds to his column. "By the time the clerk in the city room has gone through the mail each day and dropped possible stories on my desk, I'd estimate there are perhaps 15 pieces worth considering, and we'll use maybe half of 9 that. In addition, some of the mail goes directly to reporters. It's a little hard to estimate how much of that is used, but I'd say it is miniscule. Generally, before they use anything like that, they clear it with me or someone else on the desk--and that's rare. "The blanket mailings nationwide are worthless. It's been my contention that most are written by PR men to impress their bosses or t o build up files to justify their jobs. With few exceptions, we pitch all releases unless they have some local angle--city or state. A few national releases might give us an idea for pursuing a medicial or educational feature, but rarely.'" In a 1978 study of Oklahoma's 13 largest daily newspapers by the University of Oklahoma's journalism school, editors said they used only eight percent of the news releases received from public relations sources. Most were rejected for lack of local interest or because they were too long or were overflowing with advertising puffery. 5 The remarks of this editor are typical of the respondents' views about these problems in the Oklahoma editor study: "The big sin is that too much of the material we receive has no real 28
News Release relevance tO local readers. The material is too general in nature. I have long felt that PR people should better their releases. You might send out 100 releases and only two or three get used, and t h e y are cut drastically. But if you send out, say, three or four written more for particular papers, you might find material used to a far greater extent."6 This editor's comments also reflected the majority's point of view: "To many PR people don't know the difference between news and advertising. The smart operator is one who works up a good angle for a story and only mentions the business or corporation well down in the story. I've always thought much of the material we receive was written to impress people within the organization and that the writer never really expected to see the story in print. ''7 In a 1979 National Newspaper Association sample survey of 50 daily and weekly editors, 80 percent of the editors reported that the bulk of the releases from corporations and government agencies are only of marginal value. The NNA survey found that 40 percent of the editors reported using only five percent or less of the releases received, a One-third of the editors said government releases are more useful than corporate counterparts, while one-quarter believe business does a better job, the NNA report said. All the editors in the survey declared that every government release they received required editing or rewriting to some degree. Fifty percent said the rewriting demanded ranged from fairly heavy to extensive, while 10 percent said complete rewriting was the rule.9 In an effort to get more of a scientific feel for the problem nationally, questionnaires were sent to the managing editors of 200 daily newspapers from throughout the 50 states. Every ninth newspaper listed among the 1,756 papers in the 1979 Editor & Publisher Yearbook comprised the national probability sample. In an effort to increase responses, a personal note encouraging participation was penned on each pre-printed cover letter. One hundred twenty-three replies were received from the initial mailing. This 61.5 percent response rate permits reasonable statistical inferences regarding how most daily newspapers feel about news release programs. The editors reported using only 9.2 percent of all releases received from public relations sources, including those from businesses, industries, organizations and government agencies. Several editors said they didn't use news releases at all, while one reported an 80 percent usage rate, the highest in the survey. To gauge the reasons for the unpopularity of news releases, respondents were asked to describe the problems they have with releases they 29
Public Relations
Review
receive. Five example categories were listed on the' questionnaire-"information not localized," "releases contain too much advertising puffery," "too long and cumbersome," "arrive too late," "are not newsworthy"--as was an open-ended "other" category. Respondents were asked to check the applicable categories and offer comments. The localization problem led the way, with 120 of the 123 respondents (97.5 percent) indicating this was the major deficiency in news releases. As one editor put it, "The local angle is the way to get a news release in the paper. It is something like shooting quail. If, on a covey rise, you point in the direction of the fleeing birds and fire, you will miss in the vast percentage of cases. If, however, you select one bird, aim and swing, you will usually connect." One hundred and two (82.9 percent) of the editors said that releases are not newsworthy; 101 (82.1 percent) indicated that they contain too much advertising puffery; 56 (45.5 percent) thought that releases were too long and cumbersome; and 34 (27.6 percent) felt that releases arrived too late to be useful. The most prevalent complaint in the "other" category was poor writing style. Twenty-eight (22.7 percent) of the respondents identified this as a problem. Other comments included: "Because the information contained in releases must compete for space with the output of 50 reporters, four major wire services, the syndicates and freelancers, the few releases we do use are reduced to a fraction of their original length." "Too many releases are just self-serving announcements." "Most releases we receive are an affront to our integrity." Commenting on whether or not it would make a difference to their editorial operation if they didn't receive PR releases, most editors in the Oklahoma editor study said that, despite the poor quality of releases, some do serve a useful purpose. ~~ "If releases stopped coming, we would miss a lot of stories, many of them good, based on tips we get from some releases," explained an Oklahoma editor. "We would be unable to expand and make assignments on a number of things, such as a major bank expansion, a major upturn in profits, etc.," he said. ~ "We would miss finanical statements from our area companies the most if releases were curtailed," said another editor. ~ The improvement of news release programs was a major recommendation emanating from a 1979 University of Oklahoma study of how news media-business relationships can be enhanced. Two hundred twenty newspaper editors and radio-television news directors and 90 business executives from across the country participated in the national random sample survey. ~3 The study showed the business-news media relationship to be
30
News Release fraught wit h tension, hostility and distrust because of a lack of understanding of each other's purposes, values and goals, and because of generally poor public relations-information programs among the country's businesses and corporations.l' The study concluded that ineffective news release programs are a significant part of the problem and recommended that they be streamlined. "Releases should be aimed more at specific media and localized for individual newspapers-television-radio-magazines as much as possible," the Oklahoma study advised. "Business publicists should insure that releases contain pure news and feature material about the business, not advertising puff. Releases should be well researched, short, concise--as near ready for publication (requiring the editor to do as little editing as possible) as the business news person can write them. This procedure will build respect for the business public relations office in the eyes of the media and will increase its effectivehess. ''Is
!
References 1Center, Alien H. "Canvassing the Calling," Public Relations Journal 33 (November 1977), pp. 40-41, 46. =Honaker, Chuck. "'When Your Releases Aren't Working," Public Relations Journal 34 (March 1978), pp. 16-19.
SIbid., p. 17. 'Ibid., p. 17.
""
6Baxter, Bill. "Oklahoma Editors Look for Local Angles in PR Releases," Publishers' Auxiliary, Feb. 12, 1979, p. 7. 6See unpublished report of 1978 Oklahoma editor study by Bill Baxter, University of Oklahoma School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Norman, Okla.
~lbid. ~"Editors Polled on Acceptability of News Releases." Editor & Publisher, Nov. 10, 1979, p. 30.
'Ibid., p. 30. ~~ cit., unpublished report, Baxter study. ~Op. cit., unpublished report, Baxter study. ~=Op. cit., unpublished report, Baxter study. l~Unpublishedstudy report (April 1979). "Business and the News Medla--What are the Roles of Each'/"University of Oklahoma School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Norman, Okla.
"Ibid., pp. 8-16 ~5.1bid., p. 30.
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