Press releases as a hybrid genre

Abstract

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.

Exploratory Investigation Into the Practice of Communicating to Publics Using English as a Lingua Franca (Elf) by Finnish Companies

“…shows the performance obligations raised by McWhorter (2007), Hallahan (1999) and Catenaccio (2008) to be lacking. Unless the recipient/reader is particularly interested in the content, after perusing the subject, I wonder whether a NNS would necessarily fight their way through the text and question how much some may comprehend.…”

“…A traditional piece of PR messaging should be more informative, matter-of-fact and clearly framed (Hallahan, 1999), but it may be (should be) devoid of overt marketing language to differentiate it from a brochure or advertisement (Catenaccio, 2008). Bluntly put, if it is constructed well, a journalist could quickly edit it and present it for publication, irrespective of the ethical and presentational issues that may occur (Maat, 2007;Maat, 2008;Maat and de Jong, 2013;Raeymaeckers et al, 2012, p. 148).…”

Frame Analysis of ENGO Conceptualization of Sustainable Forest Management: Environmental Justice and Neoliberalism at the Core of Sustainability

“…Press releases were used as an empirical base for the analysis. Press releases are considered to be a key instrument for achieving publicity [52]. Press releases are publications written to provide information for journalists in the hope that they will be passed on to the general public [53].…”

“…Press releases are publications written to provide information for journalists in the hope that they will be passed on to the general public [53]. Unlike newspaper articles, press releases do not only provide information to the general public, but are also characterized by their detectable positive bias towards the publishing institution [52]. Therefore, apart from being informative, press releases have a propagandistic purpose [52,53].…”

“…Unlike newspaper articles, press releases do not only provide information to the general public, but are also characterized by their detectable positive bias towards the publishing institution [52]. Therefore, apart from being informative, press releases have a propagandistic purpose [52,53]. For example, Gilpin showed how Italian multinational Parmalat used press releases to construct a narrative of victimization in the public eye as it was approaching its bankruptcy [54].…”