Embargoed: Oh, forget it

The days for embargoed news are gone, made obsolete by more instantanious news coverage and communication channels. However, two exclusions still remain:

1) The exclusive... if offering an exclusive, embargoes are necessary to give proper time for supporting interviews/resarch.

2) Long-lead trade publications still rely on embargoed content... but less and less as timely news is covered online to complement print.

So feel free to delete away when you see embargoed releases... it's our job on the PR side to grab your attention with an exclusive or compelling pitch if we have a story worth the wait.

Michael Schultz
President, Message Infusion, LLC
www.messageinfusion.com

A rare gold out in the well deserved death of the embargo is the scientific press. Major journals still issue press releases under embargo. The idea is that all of the newspapers and outlets will hold back until the same time, creating a major splash for the journal.

Many journalists collude with this, probably because they see it as a way of getting their copy through the news editors.

One possibly valid use of the embargo is the release of reports that officially have to go to, say Parliament, before the great unwashed. Apart from that, it is hard to defend this practice.