In the ultra-competitive business environment in which we live, there's a natural tendency to distribute a news release or pitch a story for virtually every little development. We all want to get noticed, right? And besides the validation of appearing in print or on television, there aren't many better ways to broadcast our message to the widest possible audience. Throw in the instant credibility of legitimate journalism, and there's a greater likelihood that customers and clients will take note of our products and services. So, we should send out news releases at every opportunity, right?
In a word, no. One of my first mentors when I worked as a political strategist advised me to "make the letterhead mean something." Simply put, he meant that I should be sparing in sending out news releases instead of inundating my news contacts with notices of every little sneeze or minor event. It all comes back to credibility: when establishing your credibility with journalists, less is often more.
Many is the time I distributed an obligatory minor release and followed it with personal contacts stating that the release wasn't major news. Traitorous, eh? Hardly. This allowed me to make personal pitches for releases I believed in, releases which might have been met with reluctance or skepticism by the journalists I worked with. Being judicious with my pitches gave me journalistic credibility, one of the most important qualities a public relations professional can ever have.
So, evaluate every news release as if you were the editor or reporter receiving it. If it's of questionable news value, don't send it, package it with other news or take a low key approach when you follow up with individual journalists. There will quickly come a time when you pitch a story with news value which might not be readily obvious, and you'll need that credibility when you tell reporters how much you believe in the story.
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