The Good, The Bad, The Spin

This time, how embargoed press releases can have unintended consequences.

Consumerist, one of my regular reads, missed the mark today. Fortunately, most of its readers didn’t buy the line that public relations practitioners and journalists collude with one another to deceive the public with the practice of using embargoed news releases. One point that needs to be underscored is that embargoes serve a purpose for publicists, journalists and the public alike—embargoes can ensure media outlets all get the same information at the same time. In other words, one reason public relations practitioners use embargoes is to avoid playing favorites with journalists. In the end, the public wins because specific media outlets can’t then monopolize specific news items. With the exception of targeting specific media outlets for strategic or logistical reasons, it is generally accepted that playing favorites—giving certain reporters scoops, or exclusives—can backfire.  Comments below the Consumerist post also raise the issue of transparency. A visit to PRSA’s ethics Web pages is instructive.

 Consumerist, it should be noted, is well worth visiting because of the topics it covers. It is full of potential PR cases studies.

(EDIT: Reviewing my past post on Consumer Reports, I noticed the CR news release was embargoed.)