Ben Silverman has completed some very interesting research with fifty journalists at daily newspapers. Among the findings:
- 26% of those surveyed open less than 50% of press releases they recieve via e-mail
- 36% recieve press releases via fax and 56% of those, read the releases they get via fax
- 70% monitor the press release wires
- 76% don’t believe that blogs provide a useful research tool
Ben has a lot more here.
Molly Wood over at CNET has a really interesting opinion piece on the reality of IT vendors’ “control” over unannounced products. It hits on a key point for PR and marketing people everywhere. In an online world control isn’t an option.
“And that brings me to the crux of my point today. Thanks to the Internet, there’s a new model for controlling information–that is, a complete lack of control. Bloggers, rumor sites, and even inside sources are running the show, but tech manufacturers are still stuck in their Cold War-like product release behaviors….. We media types need to quit kowtowing to manufacturers who are trying in vain to hold on to the last shred of control they think they have. Those manufacturers need to wake up and smell the RSS feeds–the information’s already out there. Quit acting like you’re doling out spoonfuls of sugar to the deserving few. Your audience is getting its sugar elsewhere.”
Alice Marshall and Pete Shinbach both point to another example of the clueless pitching the blogger.
Steve Rubel has a very interesting post on the impact of new collaborative sites such as Wikipedia on the corporate brand.
The current issue of Bacon’s (nee MediaMap) Expert PR is out with stories on corporate image, PR and RSS, sponsorship, and an interview with Bob Wallace, Editor in Chief of Telecommunications Magazine amongst others..
Murphy's Law 