Re: Press release timing

From: Tim McNamara <tmcnamara_at_digitalgrit.com>
Date: Thu 06 Oct 2005 19:19:43 -0500

Hi Phil- Lots of people will have lots of differing opinions about
effective media relations tactics, so take each with a grain of salt -
this included. It is fairly common practice to release a significant
news item ahead of time, and "embargo" the release of the news until a
time and date that you specify. The understanding being that you're
giving the reporters ample lead time to craft a detailed story, and that
they are going to respect your wishes on timing. As this is basically a
trust issue, I'd identify a select wish list of reporters/outlets that
you really want to cover the news, and provide the "embargoed" release
to them. Then when the specified date is reached, you can send out the
general release over one of the wires to reach the general public.
Which wire service you use should really depend on who you are trying to
reach. PRNewswire is the old mainstay, but if you are more focused on
online activities, you might also consider PR Web, which can be
significantly less expensive, and includes some neat added features for
the online space. Hope this helps-

Tim Mc

Tim McNamara
Media Director
DigitalGrit
2551 Virginia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20037
p. 202-625-5000
f. 202-625-5505
tmcnamara_at_digitalgrit.com
www.digitalgrit.com




Received on Thu Oct 06 2005 - 19:19:43 CDT