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Press releases are short pieces of writing issued by companies or institutions to communicate newsworthy information to the journalist community on the one hand, and to the general public (indirectly through newspaper reporting, or, increasingly, directly by making press releases available on corporate websites) on the other. While ostensibly informative, press releases also carry an implicitly self-promotional purpose, in so far as the information they contain comes from a source internal to the organization which is the object of the release itself. This paper explores the generic features of press releases and investigates the way in which they codify the different communicative purposes and multiple receiver roles which distinguish the genre. Drawing on Bhatia’s work on genre (Bhatia 1993, 2004), and building on Jacobs’s preformulating features (Jacobs 1999a), which can be seen as linguistic strategies aimed at achieving the primary and most ostensible purpose of the press release (i.e. getting the story in the news with as little manipulation as possible on the part of journalists), the paper identifies a set of moves and strategies common to the genre, and links them to communicative purposes on the one hand, and to envisioned audiences on the other. It is argued that the press release occupies a hybrid position along the informative-promotional continuum, and that identification of its communicative purpose relies as much on core as on peripheral textual features.

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At the end of 2003, the Italian dairy giant Parmalat became embroiled in a financial scandal which, in a matter of weeks, led to temporary receivership and the initiation of bankruptcy procedures. Pressured by the international media (eager, in the wake of the scandals that had hit the American market a few years earlier, to point the finger at the perpetrators of financial crimes), as well as by investors and other stakeholders, Parmalat issued a series of press releases which document the unfolding of the crisis and illustrate the approach to crisis communication chosen by the company. This paper analyses the press releases in English (aimed, therefore, at the international public) issued by Parmalat between November 2003 and August 2004. The press releases are analysed both qualitatively, in a discourse-analytical perspective, and quantitatively, with the help of computerised routines (Wordsmiths Tools 4.0), with a view to identifying the main features of Parmalat's crisis communication strategy. The findings suggest that Parmalat did not have a clear communication strategy, and that textual (genre-related), lexical and syntactic choices conveyed implicitly the image of a company unwilling to engage dialogically with its stakeholders and unable to control the course of the events. RÉSUMÉ À la fin de 2003, le géant agroalimentaire italien Parmalt, se trouve entraîné dans un scandale financier qui, en quelques semaines, conduit à sa mise sous administration judiciaire et l'engagement des procédures de faillite. Assailli par la presse internationale (impatient, dans le sillage des scandales qui ont frappé le marche américain quelques années auparavant, de débusquer les instigateurs des délits financiers), ainsi que par les investisseurs et d'autres parties prenantes, Parmalat publie une série de communiqués de presse qui documente le déroulement de la crise et illustre l'approche adoptée par la société en matière de communication en situation de crise. Cet article analyse les communiqués de presse en anglais (destiné donc, à un public international) publiés par Parmlat entre novembre 2003 et août 2004. Ils font l'objet d'une analyse à la fois qualitative relevant de l'analyse du discours, et quantitative, à l'aide du concordancier Wordsmiths Tools 4.0, dans le but d'identifier les principales caractéristiques de la stratégie de communication de crise adoptée par Parmalat. L'analyse indique que l'entreprise n'a pas adopté une stratégie de communication claire et les choix textuels (en rapport avec le genre), lexicaux et syntaxiques véhiculent, de manière implicite, l'image d'une entreprise incapable de maîtriser le cours des événements et peu disposée à engager le dialogue avec les parties prenantes.