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Shel Holtz
Communicating at the Intersection of Business and Technology
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This makes me so happy…

Catching up on my feeds after a two-week stint on the road that left me with little time, I stumbled across a post from Stowe Boyd reporting on a Zogby study. The survey reveals that most Americans believe bloggers and citizen journalists will play an increasingly significant role in the way news is reported. I agree with the results of the study, but that’s not what tickles me.

What tickles me is that Stowe’s report—and the bulk of his post—is a citation from (are you ready? wait for it…) a press release. The version to which Stowe links, on WeMedia, even begins, “For Immediate Release.”

Could Zogby have blogged the announcement? Of course they could have. Should Zogby have blogged it instead of issuing a release? Maybe. The point is, the release worked to the extent that WeMedia ran it in its entirety and even the virulently anti-press-release Boyd picked it up with nary a whisper of complaint.

02/19/07 | 4 Comments | This makes me so happy…

Comments

  • 1.That is outstanding!

    Sincerely, though, I'm curious as to what his response to this post of yours might be. I don't know the guy, but I hope -- for the sake of the discussion -- he offers an intelligent defense, even if it's one I (will likely) disagree with.

    I just hope it's not "shut up, stupidhead!" or something to that effect. I have three younger siblings, so I've been called many such names.

    That said, at first blush, I'm thinking that part of Stowe's response could be something to this effect: "I did use a news release, but I would rather not have. They announced this with a release, so I didn't have much choice. If they blogged about it, I could have commented (or left a trackback) to start a discussion on their page, rather than leaving it up to the audience -- err, umm... the people -- to find the conversation on my blog, on Shel's blog and elsewhere."

    Mike Keliher | February 2007 | Minneapolis

  • 2.Simple proof that it's the content, NOT the format.

    Kevin Dugan | February 2007 | Cincinnati, OH

  • 3.LOL.....as the comms person who Stowe ripped to shreds (incorrectly, I might add) this is classic. I agree with Mike's post as well, I hope Stowe decides to respond to this, he never responded back to my defense of myself...strange for someone who claims that blogging creates better interactive conversations?

    KFF

    Kyle | February 2007 | Boston

  • 4.Good for a chuckle.

    Unfortunately, the "people respond to them, therefore they must be good" argument is what's been keeping the spam industry flourishing for years, so I'm not sure we want to rest on our laurels just yet. ;-)

    Eric Eggertson | February 2007 | Canada

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