Dave's Top Eight

1. Jerry Reed...Revisited by Darrell Toney (reviewed 6/07) (5 Stars)
2. Sounds Like Sunday by Janet Paschal (reviewed 5/07) (5 Stars)
3. True To The Call by Kingdom Heirs (reviewed 3/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
4. Revival by Gold City (reviewed 10/06) (4 1/2 Stars)
5. Get Away Jordan by Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (reviewed 2/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
6. Breakin' Chains by Three Bridges (reviewed 5/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
7. Big Sky by The Isaacs (reviewed 4/07)
8. Skywriting by Mercy's Well (reviewed 7/07)

Click title to purchase at CBD.com...click artist name to read Dave's Review. A CD will automatically fall out of the Top Eight after twelve months if no CD surpasses it before then.

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October 5, 2004

Press Release Rant

As promised, here's my rant about the way press releases are typically handled by SG media outlets.
 
There's an art to taking a press release and dividing the truly relevant facts from the fluff. Most successful non-SG news sources will re-write the info in a press release before publishing it (and that's only after they deem it worthy of publication at all). Why? Because they want to convey the actual news to their readers. They don't want to appear overly biased in favor of a party in a news article, so they excise all the braggary that typically gets included with a press release.
 
In the case of mainstream radio and even moreso in television, there's a time issue involved. It's a constant battle to compress the most important news stories into "bites." Of course, that can have drawbacks too.
 
With most Southern Gospel media outlets on the internet, though, it's a very common (and lazy) practice to just copy and paste the ENTIRE press release, word for word . . . after all, it's just Christians helping each other out, right? Unfortunately, this leads to excessive bloat, and "news" articles take on more of an advertisement tone. Promotions people know their articles will almost always be printed without any editing, so they stick in all sorts of additional tidbits (aka brag points). In fact, some feel entitled to have their press releases printed without so much as a paragraph deleted, even if the paragraph is part of the standard "look how great I am" section at the end of the release. See the next article below, for one example.
 
This is compounded when the advertisers keeping a publication afloat are also the ones most frequently submitting the press releases. When artists, promoters and record labels are providing 90% of your operating cash, you tend to keep them happy. Unfortunately, the net result is a less credible publication. A continual stream of hype is not "news." It shouldn't be the reader's job to sort the beef from the bull. 
 
Right now, a website that publishes a well edited, unbiased version of the news will really stand out from the pack. It would also be refreshing to see a news story that's researched and reported without the aid of press releases from time to time. Why is there this notion that a story isn't news until a statement is issued by one of the involved parties? I'm not advocating digging around in the personal matters of artists, but I see nothing wrong with reporting something that has been announced from stage, for example, before an "official" press release is published.
 
I'm also amazed that some websites even attempt to enforce a copyright on press releases they've copied word for word. Aren't press releases, by nature, designed to be redistributed?
 
When it comes to websites on the internet, many are staffed by volunteers and not bouyed by much advertising . . . just a genuine love for the music and a desire to be a pro-active, involved fan. I can see extending those some slack on their journalism skills, but the tables are turning. I challenge the volunteer sites to rise to a higher standard. You don't have an obligation to advertisers right now. If you go ahead and set your standards, you won't have any guilt when the readers and advertisers come your way in the future. Yes, some people who send you press releases will complain if you edit them . . . but at least you won't be a party to stretching the facts in the name of "reporting the news."
posted by David Bruce Murray @ 1:08:00 AM


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