The News Release is Not Dead

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRSA SIERRA NEVADA CHAPTER ANNOUNCES NEWS RELEASE IS NOT DEAD
No matter how hard we try

RENO, Nev. (Oct. 24, 2014)—Today the Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) announced big news in the public relations industry: The news release is not dead. The revelation was made when keynote speaker Marisa Vallbona, APR, Fellow PRSA, declared she has repeatedly tried killing the news release, to no avail.

“The news release will never die,” Vallbona said in her presentation, “You know how I know? I’ve tried many times to kill it and what happens? Inevitably, I’ll send a pitch and the reporter asks me to send the release.”

The announcement was made at PRSA Sierra Nevada chapter’s luncheon, “Freshen Up for PR’s Future: A Workshop for Today’s Practitioners for Tomorrow,” held Friday, Oct. 24, 2014 at JA Nugget in Sparks, Nev. Other public relations practitioners and agencies in attendance agreed, stating that the news release remains a powerful tool in the industry.

“The news release gives us the opportunity to tell the story the way we want it to be told,” Ronele Dotson, APR, president of Reno-based RAD Strategies Inc., said. “It also gives valuable background information to the journalist so they don’t have to go searching for it and it provides us with the opportunity to include video, photos and search engine optimizing key words to help our clients become that much more visible.”

With so many other dying tactics in the industry (think faxing releases, desk side visits) and the emergence of new tactics like social media, brand journalism and the integration of all things marketing, public relations professionals might be looking to cut some corners on the news release. But not so fast.

According to a 2014 Business Wire study, 88 percent of surveyed journalists named news releases as the most desirable content in the online newsroom, while 62 percent had used a submitted press release within the past 24 hours. In addition, news releases are now often published directly to online sources including enews sites, blogs and of course, through social media.

News media, expect to continue seeing news releases galore coming from your local Sierra Nevada Chapter of PRSA.

For more information about the Sierra Nevada Chapter of PRSA, visit online at PRSAReno.org.

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