A robust relic

Let's be honest: In the age of Skype & Co., who still needs and attends conventional press conferences? Eight or ten years ago, live presentations were still the means of choice for conveying information as comprehensively and directly as possible. And often a matter of prestige. Today, the relevant calendars of events are almost exclusively devoted to modest balance sheet and public authority events (which themselves are therefore dispensable). And those who continue to cultivate the elaborate ritual must offer the media people who travel especially for this purpose some added value, such as celebrities or provocations, otherwise it becomes embarrassing or even counterproductive.

There are increasing signs that media releases will suffer the same fate and that this traditional instrument of classic public relations will soon pass away. "Nine out of ten press releases disappear into the virtual or real wastebasket," estimated a MAZ expert two years ago. More text than at most a loosely described page has long been prohibitive, and even then it would need today a language as pictorial as possible as well as directly linked enrichments. At the same time as this quite realistic analysis, however, News aktuell disseminated the finding in its "Whitepaper Recherche" that press releases are still the most frequently used source of information for media professionals - even ahead of search engines.

This assertion is greatly relativized or even turned into its opposite if one takes into account that News aktuell is not only a wholly owned subsidiary, but in fact the commercial arm of the Swiss Dispatch Agency. And that the PR service provider makes its living from sending out precisely those media releases from companies and organizations that it hails as the most popular research tool by means of a survey-based thesis paper. Against the backdrop of the most recent events, one mildly smiles at the whining SDA's attempts to pull itself out of the swamp by its own hair. In fact, however, this Munchausen stunt sheds light on exciting parallels between the promoted format and the promoting company.

From a journalistic point of view, there are great similarities between a media release and an agency report, which is still the core product of SDA. First of all, both types of text are characterized - in addition to their optimized information content - above all by the fact that they can be cut quickly and without loss from behind. And then, today's red pencil-regulated editorial offices are increasingly dependent on both suppliers. In short, the increasingly acute shortage of time and personnel in the media business is feeding the business model of both news and PR agencies. Admittedly, there is one existential difference for the senders: While the neutral news service continues to cost, media releases are and remain free goods controlled by commercial interests.

The question remains as to reliable and more accurate alternatives to the anachronistic shotgun "media release. Of course, there are plenty of recommendations from highly paid consultants, all without empirical evidence, let alone a guarantee of success. Whether it's direct messages via Twitter, snazzy Facebook videos, corporate blogs, content marketing or the (equally banal and effective) direct conversations with media professionals: None of these complementary tools has yet been able to completely displace the press release. The recently yes commercially oriented SDA would therefore be well advised to direct its new artificial intelligence focus on the development of a worthy successor to this communicative all-purpose weapon - for the benefit of its shareholders and the entire media industry.

Oliver Classen is media spokesman for Public Eye (formerly Berne Declaration) and columnist for Werbewoche.

This article comes from the current advertising week 10/2018