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Embargoes: Time to break the habit?
Embargoed press releases—a hold-over from public-relations practices in the world of print—remain a constant source of discussion in the world of online publishing. Should they still be in use? Should they be honored? Is "breaking an embargo" warranted?
Long story short, questions abound. So, I thought it might be helpful—for startups and bloggers alike—to take an objective view of the embargo and how it is used in media relations.
Let’s get really simple.
What is an "embargoed release"?
An embargoed release is a press release or announcement that is shared with the media well in advance of its publishing date. Unlike "off the record" (the source of a-whole-nother post) which is never supposed to see the light of day, embargoed information is meant to be published. But, it is meant to be published sometime in the future. It is akin to "sharing a secret." And, it is shared with the understanding that it is to remain a secret until the publishing date.
Why did this practice even come into being?
Using an embargo on a press release became a popular practice for a number of reasons:
- Embargoes give journalists fair warning of upcoming news. Allowing them to prepare their stories in advance of news "dropping." They are shared with the hope that, with sufficient lead time, the journalist will provide additional insight that might not be part of a breaking news story.
- Embargoes help manage the relationship between the journalist and the PR person. Sharing secrets has a tendency to build a relationship. And with time, that relationship becomes a symbiotic one, built on trust.
- Embargoes enable companies to synchronize the release of news items in a world of asynchronous publishing schedules. Newspapers are generally dailies with tight timelines. Magazines have longer publishing timelines and may actually "go to bed" weeks in advance of actual release. If you want your news to appear in the papers and the magazines at the same time, embargoes are one way of managing that.
- Embargoes help keep your executives out of orange jumpsuits. When you’re working for a publicly traded company, you live in fear of a journalist publishing something before "full disclosure." For public companies, everyone needs to hear news at the same time or else the SEC comes knocking at your door. Sharing the information early, under embargo, can help prevent these "leaks" from happening.
It’s those "controlling the timing of the information" points that cause the most headaches in the today’s brave new world of online publishing and blogging. If publishing schedules have been reduced to a matter of seconds and publishing scoops that land your site at the top of Techmeme could mean the difference between ridiculous amounts traffic and no traffic, does the embargo still have a place in public relations?
I would argue it does. Perhaps now more than ever.
Embargoes, plain and simple, are about respect. Respect for journalists, be they bloggers or traditional media. Respect for their time and their insight. And, ultimately, the media’s respect for your company and the way you mange public relations.
So, that’s a brief overview of the embargo. Do you think the embargo still serves as a viable means of distributing information? Do you think it’s an archaic practice whose time has ended? I’d love to hear about, because in the next installment, I’ll be addressing how to manage the embargo process.
Rick Turoczy is one of the CenterNetworks Experts and he writes for the Silicon Florist, a blog covering under-the-RADAR start-ups, blogs, and events in Portland, Oregon, and the Silicon Forest. He can be reached, most readily, via Twitter.
Rick, my view of embargoes may be somewhat jaundiced as a result of being a journalist, but I think the order of your points justifying the existence of embargoes is all mixed up. I think the “allowing journalists time to prepare” and “building relationships” points either belong a lot farther down on the list, or perhaps don’t even belong there at all.
The number one reason for embargoes — IMHO — is to manage a PR campaign, primarily as an attempt to generate “buzz” around some pseudo news event. Forcing journalists to wait and then unleash their articles all at once creates the impression that something is important, and getting them to agree effectively forces them to write about it.
Bottom line: embargoes are a farce. They are not about respect, they are about manipulation.
Rick great post. Normally I wouldn’t have felt compelled to comment because I do believe your post provides a basic sense of background info for startups to understand the dynamics of news in a real-time world.
Matt’s comment is not incorrect either and I’d like to highlight another side of PR that is really working to change his perception and the shared perception of others.
I can tell you honestly, that as a hands-on PR person for 17 years, I’ve only used embargoes for important news and each campaign was absolutely rooted in respect in order to build or nurture long-term relationships.
Allowing journalists and bloggers adequate time to prepare is critical. We’re not the only people with news. Why wouldn’t we try to work within their busy schedule in order to have a shot at earning coverage? And, we all know that once a press release or the news is made public, no one wants to pay attention anyway.
I’m not alone in this either. Many of us realize that there isn’t any value in the short-term. I’m a HUGE proponent of the “less is more” embargo strategy to try to 1) demonstrate appreciation for those we want to work with – it’s different with each type of announcement we feel is truly “news worthy” as is the audiences it’s best suited. 2) To reduce or eliminate the chance that someone might break the embargo by running early (usually by mistake, sometimes we learn the hard way though.)
Attn PR people, please read this post and Matt’s comment. This is what you’re up against and there’s a reason why PR hasn’t enjoyed the best reputation for quite sometime.
If you’re in PR and would like to learn how to do this the right way, without burning bridges, please read two free ebooks that I’ve written on the subject:
The Art and Science of Public Relations
>PR Tips for Startups
What Morgan said!
Mathew – embargo or not, if a story isn’t worth publishing, then it won’t get published, so I fail to see much validity in your “attempt to generate buzz” argument.
If anything, embargoing a press release diminishes the buzz; if you already know something’s going to happen, where’s the excitement? As for “effectively forcing” a journo to write about something? Can’t speak for the US, but here in the UK, that would never happen. PR’s don’t *force* journos to write up a story, whatever they may like to think.
I’ve sat on both sides of the PR/journalist fence, and see the advantages of an embargo for both.
For the PR, yes, it allows them to manage a campaign more easily – across old and new media, with differing deadlines. So I will conceed there’s an element of control (not manipulation) there.
For journos, it does give them time to dig into a story before it goes ‘live’ so to speak. Especially with rolling deadlines, a little notice of a story ‘breaking’ allows you to get some background, find a new angle, arrange that interview with the CEO to flesh out the story etc.
So, whilst you may argue that embargoes are a farce, I politely but firmly beg to differ.
RB
The original line of this piece was “if you want to start an argument about online publishing, try throwing out the word ‘embargo.’”
@Mathew, like the position @Ross describes, I’ve been both a flack and journalist, so I’ve been on both sides, as well.
And I’ve been lucky enough to maintain embargo relationships that provided both parties with something to gain.
You have a point. There are always folks who will use attempt to use the position to force the situation. So maybe I should have said it “should be” about respect.
But to @Ross’ point, it takes two to tango.
I’ll make sure to focus on the respect angle when I write the “how to” portion.
Thanks to both you and @Ross for chiming in so quickly. Much appreciated.
I don’t really care whether they exist or not, but I will say this– every time I see a story on every blog the same day (say CN, RWW, Mashable, and TC) and it’s obviously from a press release, I lose respect for those sites. I don’t know how impressed I’m supposed to be that a press release was sent in and somebody rewrote it on a pre-agreed date.
I would much prefer reading actual news than those, and I think there’s plenty out there beyond reprinting releases. I don’t really care if that’s just the way it’s done, if I found a tech blog that reported more and rewrote less, I’d be all over it.
I’m sure that some people do regurgitate a press release. I personally have never done it. Obviously, there are talking points in a press release, but nine times out of 10, I don’t even read the one they send over. If they take the time to let me interview them and ask questions about a product and I think it’s interesting, I write about it. If they send over a press release and a beg, it usually doesn’t get covered.
I’ve also never broken an embargo. I remember all too well from being on the marketing side what a PITA it was. Of course, when I was ON the marketing side, I also didn’t need to deal with people who wield a great deal of influence (won’t mention any names) who regularly broke the embargoes either (usually the same names).
For some of us, embargoes level the playing field and allow us to publish an article at the same time as the big guys that may end up having a different viewpoint or more time spent with the product. For others, it’s nothing more than a gate holding back the horses at the start that’s just there to jump over.