A few days ago, a friend of mine mentioned that a news release she had written and issued to the media was re-posted on a news website by a journalist verbatim, without credit to my friend or her organization for writing the release, as if it were a story that person had written. My friend wasn’t happy with it, and seemed to suggest that it was laziness on the part of the journalist.
My response?
We spend hours drafting news releases, making sure that key messages and all the right information is in there. This is to make sure that a journalist has all the info they need to write their story.
When a journalist does report on a story, and gets the facts wrong, we’ll throw up our hands and say, “Oh, they just didn’t get what I was trying to say! If only they’d read the briefing material or news release more closely!”
So to my friend who had her news release reprinted: I think this is the best possible situation. Your client’s news got into the media without any distortion. Your news release was written well enough that he didn’t find a need to rewrite it, and that was probably one of the reasons it got published. If the journalist had needed to rewrite it, he might not have had the time and it might not have gotten published.
Being a communicator is a job without a lot of glory. When things go well (as in this case), no one really notices. If you want to get your name out there, become an author or a journalist. Communicators work in the background.
What do you think, readers? Have you ever had someone publish a news release that you’ve written without credit to you? How do you feel about the fact that this is happening?
-Parker
PS: When I wrote this post, I purposely didn’t read the post that my aforementioned friend, Bonnie Dean, wrote about it. I’m going to go read it now to get her perspective, and you should too: You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth.
Posted in Communications | 
Tags: Bonnie Dean, communications, journalism, News, news releases, press releases
8 Responses to “Who Wrote That News Story?”
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Parker, you literally took the words right out of *my* mouth. When I first started reading your post I thought “if you want credit, you should be a journalist or an author.” Having a news release printed verbatim really is the best possible scenario. It’s like someone retweeting you without shortening your words 2 b shortr.
Any idea if the journalist was paid for posting it? If they were, does that change the situation?
So, if I took this blog post and reposted it on my blog, or another website, without citing you as the source, you’d be okay with it? Your post is well-written and insightful – I don’t have to change a thing! Your key messages would remain intact.
I think this is like writing an essay – you cite your sources, directly or indirectly. I don’t think a reporter from the Globe and Mail would do this.
@Amanda: When someone re-tweets you, they do acknowledge the source of the original tweet. Many people on Twitter are so careful to give credit to others for the original idea, link, etc. they re-post.
@Richard: A little clarification: My friend sent the release directly to the journalist. She dealt with him once before, as he contributes to a popular website that reviews clubs, restaurants and events. She was hoping the event could featured on the website. (It hasn’t been posted yet.) The journalist thanked her and told her he would post it on his personal blog as well, which he did. He also posted it on a “citizen journalism” site under his name. There was no payment involved, but my friend’s original intent was to have the event featured on the popular website, which it hasn’t been yet, even though the event is a week away.
A friendly war of copied words is shaping up between @BonDean and myself here: http://bit.ly/8N6lPD and here: http://bit.ly/6wCT5x
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
@Amanda – I’m glad you agree, although I disagree with your comment about the Tweeting. As I said earlier, I think that getting your news out there is something you work on in the background. The equivalent would be DMing a few people on Twitter, and seeing them Tweet your message, and then seeing that ReTweeted and ReTweeted, while you rub your hands together and see your original 140 or so characters getting out there.
@Richard – I’m sure that the journalist was paid, but not by the person posting the release. And no, I don’t think it makes a difference in this case.
@Bonnie – The difference between a blog post and a news release is that with my blog posts, I’m trying to get my own message out (and hopefully make a name for myself). With a news release, you’re trying to get your clients’ message out, and I think its an entirely different scenario than with a blog post.
However, I would be fine with it if you took my post and copied it directly on to your blog.
First of all, If I was worried about people copying my ideas and thoughts I wouldn’t be posting them here for all the world to see.
Secondly, I think that you copying one post wouldn’t really have a huge effect on me. You might get a few pats on the back, a bit of a bump in traffic, for such a beautifully written post. But would it be worth your reputation if someone found out you copied it? Even if I didn’t call you out, how long before your readers figured out that you were getting your posts from me?
In the end, all it would do would draw more attention to me and my original post.
Really interesting topic… had me thinking about it all day. I guess in these cases the technology is still evolving enough that widely agreed upon standards haven’t been fully established yet. Makes me respect you all even more. I don’t know if I could survive in communications.
I would be interested in hearing what more established and reputable reporters think about this. How can you call yourself a journalist if all you’re doing is re-posting a news release?
Bonnie and Parker, you’re right, my Twitter example missed the mark. However, I still think that a news release can be reposted verbatim without credit. Is it supremely lazy? Yeah, totally… But I’m not sure it’s unethical or wrong.