For many journalists, embargoed news releases represent an advance preview of critical news before an announcement hits the wire. Typically, they offer reporters additional time to process the news, gather additional research, schedule interviews and write their stories to be ready to publish the day the news becomes public. While not all news announcements warrant an embargo, we utilize the approach for important corporate news and often even lengthier product announcements. However, it isn’t as easy as blasting out an embargoed release to your entire media list.
Some reporters do not honor embargoed releases because they view them as a challenge to their news writing process and prefer to cover the news once it is live. Separately, many tech media outlets and blogs will not honor embargoes as a way to avoid the competitive back and forth and habitual embargo breaking that was commonplace in the technology blog world not too long ago (See TechCrunch’s Lyft example here).
However, there are other reporters who won’t cover an announcement if they do not receive the information in advance, proving that knowing reporters’ newsgathering and writing styles is important. This upfront work is paramount to navigating embargoes and building strong relationships with the media. Respecting those preferences will go a long way in helping your company or client achieve successful and ongoing media coverage.