I’ve been meaning to tell you about this but that trip to Switzerland kind of got in the way. If you’re involved in any type of public relations efforts then you probably know about PR Newswire. They’ve started doing something very logical and something we’ve been preaching for the last year and a half. They’re pushing the creation and distribution of audio (and video) news releases!! We call them Talking News Releases and we directly email them to reporters. PR Newswire is producing them as fully voiced news “stories” that may include company representative sound bites. We do that when appropriate too.

They’re also setting them up as podcasts, which reporters can subscribe to!! Of course this still seems to only be directed to reporters who subscribe to PR Newswire but what a concept. Why not? Why not use audio when you send a release to a reporter?

We’re also advocating making your releases (audio or not) available by RSS to your own customers and clients from your own website. Once the release has been created use the web for what it’s capable of and don’t just depend on reporters to use your release. Which brings up a good question. How do you know if reporters air your audio news release? Inquiring minds want to know. I’ll have chapter 3 in my series on this published soon.

I’m a PR Newswire subscriber and member (although I never received a release on this!) so I took a look. There’s not a lot of them there yet but I’m sure this will grow. Besides providing pre-recorded audio and video they’re making it available when the reporter wants it. I’m not sure yet how this is or may become accessible directly to a consuming public. Some may question who would want to subscribe to a company’s sales pitch. I think it’s just one more avenue to deliver your message in an increasingly fragmented media mix. If you’re already spending the money to create a message why not invest just a little more to put it in a more user-friendly form for the reporters you’re targeting and ultimately the public?

Journalists, bloggers and news consumers can now access audio news releases as podcasts and download them to their desktop, iPod or other personal communications device, MultiVu, a PR Newswire company announced.

In addition, MultiVu is also podcasting PR Newswire’s Broadcast Minute report, an audio summary of the day’s top news releases. Launched as a text service for radio journalists and producers, the Broadcast Minute report is now available to download in MP3 audio format via PR Newswire’s media-only website, PR Newswire for Journalists (PRNJ), PR Newswire’s public Web site, http://www.prnewswire.com and Apple’s iTunes Database. By ‘podcasting’ this content, MultiVu is embracing this rapidly growing form of internet-based distribution to make its customers’ news available to key audiences, allowing them to retrieve and listen at their convenience. “Podcasting is fast becoming the format for providing radio-type archived
content directly to end-users,” said Larry Thomas, president of MultiVu, a PR Newswire company. “By utilizing podcasting as a distribution method, we are leveraging what has been a mostly consumer-oriented technology to increase the exposure of our customers’ important news and information.”

Thanks to Steve Mays and Steve Rubel for the heads up on this.