The Bulldog Reporter writes that Dan Gillmor is about to change his "Dear PR People" letter, asking pros to distribute news via RSS instead of email. He also urges PR people to pitch blogs. More details follow in this article, reprinted with permission from Bulldog Reporter's "Journalists Speak Out" ezine. (Special thanks to editor Brian Pittman!)
IS PR EMAIL DEAD?
Another Reason to Blog: Top Tech Scribe Says RSS Can Help Eliminate Media’s #1 Peeve — Non-Targeted PR Emails
“I appreciate how difficult the PR job can be, especially [when you’re] dealing with demanding people like reporters,” concedes San Jose Mercury News tech columnist Dan Gillmor in a “Dear PR People” letter posted on his blog.
But Gillmor’s empathy goes only so far — and rightly so. “Spam is still a real problem with PR,” he shared at a recent Bulldog audio conference. “In fact, I’m about to change my letter to PR people asking them not to send emails with their news. Instead, I want them to put up RSS feeds of their news,” he advised. “I think the press release page of a company’s site should have its own RSS feed. PR people will have a better shot at having journalists like me read their headlines if they do this.”
For those new to RSS, Gillmor fleshes out his suggestion by answering the following FAQs and sharing a few additional tips for improving your media outreach online:
• What is RSS (a.k.a., “real simple syndication)? “RSS is a file format that lets software of various kinds read content from a variety of websites, all on one screen, without having to surf around to those sites,” says Gillmor. “Basically, the effect of RSS is that you have this file that is created from a posting — whether it’s a news story or a blog or a press release,” he explains. “For example, weblog software almost without exception generates an RSS feed — which is an XML file that can be parsed and read by ‘RSS readers’ so you look at headlines and summaries [of that content]. An RSS reader simply goes to sites and looks for these files. In my case, it creates on the screen something that looks like a typical Outlook configuration. On the left are the folders, on the top right are the subject lines and at the bottom is the actual content.”
Further: “The folder view is the list of all the sites with RSS feeds [that I’ve selected to search],” Gillmor continues. “If I click on Cisco’s link, for example, I’ll see their headlines [of announcements and releases] on my screen like subject lines. If I click that, I’ll see the contents of their release or posting. This lets me go through a whole batch of websites without clicking around in a browser.”
• What’s the benefit to reporters? “The beauty of RSS is that nobody can force an RSS feed down your throat,” says Gillmor. “If there is somebody putting garbage into your feed — you can just delete it. RSS is totally opt-in — you have to want it to get it,” he explains. “I use it to keep track of many blogs and new sites, and a few smart companies such as Cisco and Microsoft are increasingly employing RSS to make PR materials available.” The implication, of course, is that RSS could help cut back on unsolicited and non-targeted PR emails. “It’s not the only solution — but it would help,” agrees Gillmor.
• Where do I start? Gillmor suggests taking a look at how companies like Cisco are using blogs and RSS feeds to get their news out. In addition: “An easy way to start the process of [enabling RSS] is to publish press releases and other materials using weblog software, because most blogging software creates RSS automatically,” he advises.
Gillmor says RSS newbies should visit http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html. “Also visit blogspace.com/rss/readers,” he suggests. “It has a good, short list of where to start.”
Gillmor offers these additional online PR tips:
• Provide more links. “I think the most important feature about weblogs is links. The link structure tells you a lot about what people think is important,” he says. “I don’t think I’ve seen this yet, but [PR people] should include links not only to friendly or neutral news articles — but also to the unfriendly ones. If there’s something wrong with the article, then post a rebuttal next to it on your site. The more you can help journalists get a full context, the better.”
• Find — and read — blogs in your space. “Any reporter with a brain is reading the weblogs,” says Gillmor. “No matter what the beat, you’re missing something if you’re not reading blogs and grass-level journalism,” he believes. “Journalists who know this are actually getting a lot of scoops because it’s not a traditional channel.” In addition, Gillmor says it’s important to “follow what’s going on and being said about your company” — and that RSS readers can help. “Tools and [RSS readers] like Feedster or Technorati — I use those all the time. I also use Google News Alerts,” he offers.
• Pitch blogs in your space. “There are examples out there of blogs doing better journalism than most print pubs,” says Gillmor. “For example, Glenn Fleishman writes about all things wi-fi and Gizmodo covers gadgets — it’s fabulous. They all break news frequently — and the traditional press tries to catch up.” His point? “If your company or client makes gadgets and you don’t pitch Gizmodo — you’re missing an important opportunity.”
So how do you pitch a blog? “Most bloggers don’t know what the rules are of this weird dance we do between PR and the media — this Kibuki dance of press releases and so on,” says Gillmor. “So I would just say, ‘this might interest you’ — sending a press release to a blogger may be counterproductive,” he warns.
