Yahoo corporate blogger Jeremy Zawodny wonders if media embargoes are overused, thanks in part, to the role of corporate blogs…
What some journalists have figured out is that we almost always post something on the Yahoo! Search blog when we launch a new Search related service. When do we post? Usually at the same time the embargos on traditional journalists are lifted. If there’s a press release, it usually hits the wire the next morning. None of this s secret–it’s a pattern that we’ve followed many times.
What I’m hoping for is the day that we can be bit less uptight about who knows when, who gets the early call, pre-briefings, and all that stuff. Sure, for a really big launch we should do that. But I think for the incremental enhancements, launches, and so on it’s overkill. We should just publish something when the feature or service is live, and let the world figure it out. They will.
Link: About those NDAs and Embargos…
Well, if only it were that easy. Maybe for Yahoo it is. When they breathe everyone cares.
But for lesser known companies with announcements that are “on the bubble” when it comes to breaking into the press, exclusives and embargoes are even more valuable currency nowadays. That’s because of the competitive pressures journalists are feeling from the blogopshere.
Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.
He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.
