For the past several years, a debate has raged in the world of public relations: is the press release dead? Some unequivocally state that it is (or should be), and some still use it and see a value in it.

I think that the press release is not dead, but it is not living like it used to. Press releases no longer generate stories. Instead, press releases have become a way for organizations to write a story and distribute it to an audience, generally via their website. And, press releases put on "wire" services may help with SEO.

If, however, you intend to generate publicity and coverage for an organization, you need to work on your pitching skills and on your data gathering and analysis. Why? Because the world of journalism and PR has changed dramatically in the past decade. News organizations have consolidated. Small/community/local newspapers are struggling, or gone altogether. Most news is national news, and most national news is political news around very few issues that generate a high degree of controversy. Social media has disrupted how people get news.

(Aside: The community where I live was going to be repairing our street, and closing it to traffic for 48 hours. I expressed concern to the community manager that our newspapers would not be able to be delivered. She asked if these items were delivered every day, and whether I paid for this delivery.  In short, she did not have <em>any</em> concept or understanding of what it means to have a daily, print newspaper delivered to your door.)

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the National Press Club's Communicator's Summit, where the following four issues were addressed:

1) Artificial intelligence in news production/news gathering.

2)  Generational differences and how they affect communication,

3) How media organizations are distributing content.

4) Today's challenges and opportunities in getting news out.

All of the above led me to conclude that we are wasting our time writing press releases. In fact, we should be providing pitches and raw data .