The press release isn't dead. Let's hope awful writing is.

Forbes' Aaron Perlut has caused a stir with his blog post, "Why The News Release Is Worthless In Today’s Social Media Age."

As I’ve previously written on my company’s blog, news releases, in most cases, are a worthless bother. Yes, there are times when they are a necessary evil. Earnings releases come to mind as they contain legally binding statements. But the traditional news release is a dreadful animal–read by few–and should be put out of its misery.

It's easy to understand his frustration. Writing quality content is hard enough without having to waste time sifting through the trash all day, searching for some news value.Arik Hansen did a nice job in a response piece, sharing insight from reporters who told him they do still rely on releases. And Arik quotes the key paragraph in Aaron's piece:

I receive at least 10 relatively illegible news releases daily (and many reporters tell me they get up to 300 each day). And rarely, if ever, can I get past the subject line in my e-mail inbox. Most of them simply seem to take up space.

It isn't that press releases are worthless. The real problem is that with the cost of distribution down to zero (anybody can send an email), reporters are inundated with garbage. The bar is significantly higher to break through the noise. And then the problem is compounded by the immediacy of our age -- PR folks are under more pressure to deliver results faster. Communications are written hastily, without clear strategy and concise writing. Quality falls while output increases. The garbage piles up faster. The lesson here isn't that press releases are dead. The lesson is that press coverage is not possible when releases have no real news value and are written poorly. Seems simple, right? But it's harder than it sounds with the pace of communication today. Slow down. Question the value of the release. Is it strategically on target and compelling to anyone outside the corporate office? And then edit. And edit again. If we can do that, reporters and PR pros alike can celebrate the death of awful releases, not all releases.

**UPDATE: Yes, I see the irony in ending a sentence about awful writing with a verb. But hey, good writing is about rhythm and flow -- not just blind adherence to grammatical rules. At least that's what I'm going with.