TL;DR
People keep declaring the press release dead — Lee’s heard it at least five times in her career. It’s not dead; most press releases are just terrible. Here’s what makes a press release actually earn coverage, backed by 2025-2026 journalist survey data, plus the exact fixes for the boring, vague, over-quoted releases clogging up every reporter’s inbox. This is the first in a series of blogs on the topic of the press release. Stay tuned for more!
Someone told me recently that the press release is dead. That hit my button. Because that very same day, we had a major story break for a client we’ve worked with for a long time — and it stemmed from a release we’d distributed over two and a half months earlier. So don’t tell me the press release is dead. It ain’t.
Frankly, in my career, the press release has died at least five times. Email killed it. Social media killed it. Corporate blogs killed it. Direct-to-consumer communication killed it. Artificial intelligence killed it. At this point I could cover my walls with the wreaths from its funerals. And yet it keeps showing up for work the next day. Keeps coming. Keeps delivering. When done well.
Here’s the annoying part of that “press release is dead” conversation: the people saying it usually have a point. Their press releases are dead. Most press releases are terrible. That’s not the format’s fault. That’s an execution problem, not a death.
The Press Release Never Stopped Working
Let’s start with the data, because I’ve got receipts.
Cision’s 2025 State of the Media report surveyed more than 3,000 journalists, and 72% named the press release as the most useful resource PR teams can provide. Not TikTok videos. Not clever gift boxes — and I love a good gift box. Press releases. Muck Rack’s 2026 State of Journalism report found that 86% of journalists said at least some of their published stories started with a PR pitch or release. Only 14% said none of their work ever started that way.
So the opportunity is alive and well. What people are calling “dead” is really the gap between the opportunity a press release represents and the execution most companies deliver.
Here’s the catch, though: nearly half of the journalists in that same Muck Rack survey said they seldom or never receive pitches relevant to what they cover. Only 3% said the pitches they receive are always relevant. That number should make you sweat a little, because it’s on us.
Journalists don’t hate press releases. They hate irrelevant information, unsupported claims, and unnecessary work. Honestly, who doesn’t?
And reporters are stretched thinner than ever. In Muck Rack’s 2026 State of Journalism study, 62% said their responsibilities had expanded beyond their core role in the last two years, and 47% described the job as exhausting because they’re producing across so many formats — web, newsletter, social, podcast, video — off a single story. Most said they usually have just enough time to do their job to their standards. Not extra time. Just enough. So a press release should reduce reporting friction, not add to it. Every unnecessary step between your release and their story is a step closer to no coverage at all.
What Actually Makes a Press Release Newsworthy
Before you write a press release, ask: Who outside my organization actually cares about this? Why does it matter now? What changed? Who’s affected? What evidence backs it up?
A new vice president rarely qualifies as news. A new vice president hired to lead a documented expansion into three markets, or poached from your biggest competitor? That’s a story. Winning an award doesn’t automatically qualify either — it’s nice on your wall, but that’s not news. Winning a respected award after producing measurable results in a field facing a major challenge? Now we’re talking. Opening a new office sounds routine. Opening the first of its kind in a region, creating 200 jobs, or delivering a needed service? That creates public interest.
Newsworthiness doesn’t need to be globally relevant. Local news should matter locally. Trade news should matter to the industry. Customer news should matter to customers. The audience sets the standard — it’s that simple. Get clear on who this is news to and why, and you’ve got yourself a release.
Length, Quotes, and Data: Where Most Releases Fail
For years, the rule was that a press release should fit on one page. That rule came from a fax machine, not from good communication practice. I’m old enough to remember standing at fax machines at midnight, someone yelling “get ready to fax” over the intercom, dialing one number at a time to newsrooms that had overnight staff — reporters, fact-checkers, assistant editors, runners. Those newsrooms don’t exist anymore, at least not at that scale. We shouldn’t be basing today’s communication practices on the limitations of a machine that made angry noises and delivered scratchy, half-legible pages.
A press release should be as long as it takes to include the information needed to understand the news. Sometimes that’s 400 words. Sometimes it’s 1,200 words with a data table, three source links, a timeline, and a backgrounder. Length doesn’t create value — substance does. A longer release works when every section answers a likely question: what happened, why it matters, the relevant context, specific numbers, the source behind those numbers, who’s affected, and access to an expert who can talk about it. Link to your supporting materials. Give reporters everything on a silver plate. Don’t make them go hunting through your website, your investor deck, or your LinkedIn page to find quotes. Package it. Tie it up in a bow.
Then there’s the quote problem. Muck Rack’s 2026 research found that only 14% of journalists rank pre-written quotes among the ideal resources accompanying a pitch — because most quotes are throwaways. “We’re excited to announce this important partnership and look forward to delivering exceptional value” tells a reporter nothing. Everyone’s excited. Everyone’s honored. We’ve learned nothing about the news.
Quotes & Data: A Few Things to Remember
A useful quote does three things: it offers an opinion, explains a decision, and adds meaning the facts alone can’t provide. Compare that generic line to this: “Our customers told us delivery delays were costing them an average of two working days each month. This partnership cuts that delay by more than half.” Problem, decision, result, point of view. Now the executive sounds informed instead of ceremonial. Quotes should sound like the person who receives the attribution. If your spokesperson wouldn’t say it out loud, on a stage, don’t put it in the release.
Same discipline applies to data. Numbers strengthen a release, but only when they’re sourced, not decorated. “We expanded rapidly” tells me nothing. “We grew from 12 locations to 27 in 18 months” tells me something. State where the data comes from, link to the research, include the date, and go to the original source rather than someone else’s summary of it.
Your job is not to force the reporter to accept your interpretation. Your job is to provide credible evidence supporting the importance of your story.
Distribution Isn’t a Strategy — Relevance Is
Putting a release on the wire is good. It creates an accessible public record, helps search engines and analysts find your announcement, and matters more than ever in a world of AI-driven search. But it doesn’t replace targeted media outreach.
The pitch and the release do two different jobs. The pitch tells a specific reporter why they and their audience should care. The release supplies the complete information package. If you’ve covered a shortage of skilled workers in manufacturing, and my company is opening a training center with two local colleges expected to prepare 300 workers a year, that pitch establishes relevance to that reporter’s beat. The release backs it up with regional workforce data, program costs, and access to the people involved.
Spraying a press release link to a giant list of reporters is noise. Researching the right reporter and explaining the connection to their beat earns attention — and it’s the reason your email actually gets opened.
Go write a good press release about real news, with links, access, good quotes, and context. Sometimes it’ll be 400 words. Sometimes 1,200. The word count doesn’t matter. The substance does. Because everything speaks — including the news you announce, the evidence you provide, and whether you respect your audience’s time.
Listen to the full episode of Everything Speaks here.