In these unprecedented, strange, uncertain times… let’s stop writing cliched, lazy press releases
With email inboxes overflowing as much as the number of COVID-19 advertising cliches, Pure Public Relations founder Phoebe Netto argues it’s time to sharpen up the story pitches.
Newsrooms have always been frantic, but in 2020, they’ve gone into overdrive. An intense hunger for fresh news and more frequent updates coupled with continued job cuts mean journalists have less time, less patience, and less time ‘for a quick chat’.
Despite all this, my journalist contacts tell me that they’re still facing a daily barrage of unhelpful, fluffy, cliched press releases littering their inbox. They’re still being pitched the wrong story, at the wrong time of day, to the wrong person, at the wrong publication. Phrases like ‘unprecedented’ and ‘in times like these’ rule supreme.
Bad press releases have gone from background irritation to a serious problem for journalists who are reporting on life and death events day in, day out. The PR industry has been guilty of these crimes for decades, but as with many things this year, I have no choice but to ask: “Really? In 2020?!”
