With the prevalence of online news outlets, Google alerts, blogs and more, it’s no secret that news is always breaking. But what happens when the news is a secret?
Embargoes, or holds placed on information until a specified date and time, have been part of the newsroom for decades. Does the new and evolving media environment change if and how embargoes should be used?
In my mind, whether or not an embargo should be issued depends on the nature of the story. It is not a cut and dried decision. Before you decide to use an embargo strategy, I recommend asking yourself a few questions first:
- Will you offer advance information to all media, or just certain outlets? If your answer is just certain outlets, do you risk damaging your relationship with other media?
- What happens if a major media outlet – one that might provide excellent exposure for your client – says they will use your story if they can break your embargo? What are the pros and cons of letting the journalist move forward with the story?
- What will the media think if they receive an announcement with an unexpected embargo? Some members of the media do not appreciate receiving embargoed information without first granting you their permission to send it as such.
Our firm uses embargoes with the media sparingly but all of the above scenarios are real, so be prepared for them. It’s a good idea to figure out where you stand on media embargoes before they become an issue.
So what’s your take on embargoes? If you have an opinion or experiences to share, we’d love to hear them.
As the editor of a small town newspaper, we certainly try to honor embargoes. But time and time again, we’ve seen the big dailies go live with stories from our coverage area that WERE embargoed, which leaves us looking like hicks. Makes it very difficult to honor those requests when we know “the other guys” won’t….
At Verizon Wireless, where I led the Midwest Area media relations team for 10 years, we used embargoes occasionally. I think they are important for making sure a specific news item is released to all news media at the same time, giving them an equal opportunity to report the story during their next news cycle. Admittedly, some outlets might report it within five minutes of your releasing the information, while others can’t get it out for hours. But with an embargo, you control the earliest time period it can be reported and you play as fairly as you can with all media. I have never had a media outlet break an embargo.