Press releases overtake reported news as primary source of information

Press releases are now more important than the trade press for office workers, according to research.
In a recent report US research firm Outsell describes this as an ‘eye-popping’ shift in how people get information. Previously, trade journals had been the most popular source of information for 'knowledge workers'.
Although this is US research, it is likely a similar trend is occurring in the UK. The report said the popularity of press releases could be because "press releases are more widely available for users to access directly, and they offer the key facts in an abbreviated package".
The report also pointed to "increased RSS and other ‘push’ functionalities, and the simple increased availability of press releases either directly from publishers or via aggregators".
Trade journals are described as holding a "strong" second place in the ranking of information sources for knowledge workers.
The research lends weight to the argument that all press releases should be submitted to an online press release wire in order to ensure they can be reached not only by journalists but corporate decision makers and the general public.
The report was based on the results of a poll of 7,000 knowledge workers between late 2004 and early 2006.
The survey results coincides with news that page impressions on the Response Source and SourceWire websites, which both feature our Press Release Wire service, have exceeded one million per month, additional evidence that the audience for press release material is expanding.
See our guide for more information on the benefits of our press release wires.

Comments

[Stuart Bruce - Wolfstar]

Another potential benefit of using wires is that even if news releases are ignored by mainstream media journalists then services such as Digg can mean that they are still noticed by your target audience as interested readers "Digg" them.

Digg is still very new but is already the fourth most popular tech site in the UK.