Richard McManus recounts an email exchange with Business Wire in which the news distribution service said companies and marketers can use Business Wire to bypass journalists and bloggers to get into key news sources like Techmeme and search engine results.

Is it true? asks Richard, who proceeds to answer his own question:

Richard posted a snippet from a Business Wire email:

That snippet sounds a lot like the social media release, of which much debate continues and which has yet to gain wide acceptance.

I think the SMR should and could play a significant role in communication outreach as the structure and format that’s developing is, in my view, far more useful to both the creators and the consumers of the content.

But in terms of traditional press releases, I’d agree with Richard’s view in the sense that Business Wire is a conduit for mass dissemination of news/information generated by others.

In the case of Techmeme, if a story is noticed by whatever means Techmeme uses to notice such things, that story will get into Techmeme no matter the source – Business Wire, the originator, whoever.

That’s how it’s supposed to work, right?

Richard also makes some good points on what he sees as journalism’s (and blogging’s) value-add.

The best part of his post, though, is this quote from Techmeme founder Gabe Rivera:

A definition for today!

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 12:16 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About the Author: Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology. Neville is a UK-based communicator, blogger and podcaster. He helps companies use effective communication to achieve their business goals. Visit Neville Hobson's blog: NevilleHobson.com.