While I’ve been defending the idea of the social media press release, Jeremy Pepper reminds us that the traditional press release still has legs.

I knew this, but Jeremy’s point hadn’t occurred to me. On his always thought-provoking blog, Jeremy writes:

What people don’t get—especially non-PR people—is that, oh, the majority of PR is done at the local level, where people don’t care about blogs or RSS. The local level is done with a press release—sometimes sent over the wire, often not sent over the wire—and done with one-on-one contact.

There are other reasons to keep the traditional press release at the ready. Trade publications and local weeklies thrive on press releases. When you have one editor and one writer filling 32 pages of content, those press releases can become the lifeblood of a publication. Make sure it’s relevant to your readers, mark it up, and in it goes.

Press releases meet other objectives, too. I welcome your lists of the uses for traditional press releases.