Why do journalists ignore most press releases? The simple answer is that there have always been way too many, and AI slop has only compounded the problem recently. According to a 2025 survey, 90 per cent of the press releases disseminated to journalists are not found to be newsworthy, so is it any surprise that journalists reject them?
That being stated, press releases remain a tried and tested method of informing journalists of developments in any realm of the world, ranging from business and brands to entertainment, healthcare, politics and society. It is
the thoughtless and reckless mass dissemination based on the spray and pray principle that puts journalists off this sometime important instrument of media engagement.
Thoughtless distribution of press releases is akin to a candidate guessing their way through a multiple-choice, high-stakes entrance examination with negative marking. It never ends well.
In fact, there are a whole set of factors that are responsible for journalists ignoring a press release. Let us look at what these might be-
Not targeting the right beat
Targeting the right beat should be basic knowledge for any PR professional, but you would be surprised how many of them send out press releases across beats, without realising how counterproductive that is. Imagine a healthcare journalist receiving a press release about the launch of a new sports car! Wouldn't that put them off press releases altogether?
Focusing on your product and not the journalist’s audience
Getting your client’s product or service coverage may be your priority as a PR person, but the journalist’s priority is to provide their reader, listener or viewer with information that is useful to the latter. If you want your press release to be part of the less than 50 per cent of the traditional press releases that are used by media houses, you better get this right.
So you have to be subtle in the way that you convey that information to the journalists. If your press release is about a restaurant launch, instead of going ga ga over its name and impending date of opening, it might interest the journalist to learn about the target market of the outlet, its cuisine, the number of people it can seat, the size of its staff and other such information which the journalist might use to develop a story.
Not customising your press release
When you buy a car, you carry out research about which car caters to your specific requirements. Likewise, if you buy a house, you take your time in evaluating your options before zeroing in on the right one.
Similarly, when you start creating a press release to pitch to journalists across media outlets, you have to be aware of not only their beat, but also the kind of subjects that interest them. It makes eminent sense for you to prepare a bespoke pitch that speaks to their requirement.
If you, for instance, know a journalist who specialises in analysing the financial results of a company, you should send them something appropriate and not something to do with an unrelated topic like the CSR milestones achieved by the former.
The losing relevance of the press release
The traditional press release is increasingly losing relevance in the digital era, which is more and more about real-time news. Unlike in the past, before social media upended everything, press releases were a vital source of information and news. Not so any longer. Today there are a myriad of news and information sources ranging from social media feeds to websites. Probably very few media people view press releases as a primary conduit of news and information in these times. So, there is less and less incentive to consult a press release for news these days.
Press releases are always going to be around as a formal document for notifying the media about something pertaining to the company in question. For instance, you may want to inform them about a company’s financial results or announcement or a product launch. But their days as a dynamic medium of information and news are largely over. A tweet can express the meat of a press release to a journalist in an instant. The latter’s usefulness is limited to providing the details pertaining to product specifications, facts, figures and other such details.
Why would they wade through an almost archaic document that provides them with dated insights to stay on top of information and news that their audience wants in real time? Clearly, the best days of press releases are behind them.
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