What is the future of the press release?

One of the biggest shifts PR pros must face in coming years is the changing media consumption habits of Americans.

Perhaps driven by the popularity of social media and online platforms, audiences are less likely to spend time on traditional news media, long-form articles and the like. Instead, audiences want multimedia content that is pithy, well-packaged, informative—and entertaining.

“People that are consuming news and content are moving away from text-based, long-form, written material,” says Gregg Castano, founder of News Direct, adding that it might not be a “good thing” for society. However, he says the trend is undeniable.

Communicators must grab their audience’s attention, something Castano says can be done with visuals and other multimedia assets, but don’t expect to hold onto that attention for long. “You’ve got to get your message across quickly in a way that’s visual and to some degree sensory,” he says.

The modern press release

Some PR pros have proclaimed the press release as “dead”—a remark on the reduced efficacy of a wire release in a digital media landscape. However, Castano disagrees that press releases lack a place in the PR pros’ arsenal. Instead, he argues that press releases must be augmented.