In a message dated 2003-07-03 16:17:21 Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Same story also appeared on PRNewsWire, which I suspect has a higher
circulation than Canada Newswire. Screen capture attached.
Nat
"PRNewswire" isn't an Associated Press, isn't a CBC, isn't a BBC. It's a method for any corporation or organization to self-publish a press release. Companies use it all the time. No one determines if it is newsworthy or accurate -- you just post it up. But it gives the impression to the uneducated that it's a wire service like AP. It isn't.
Carleton
What Carleton writes could imply that when AP, CBC, BBC, etc. publish a news item taken from a company press release, that they DO "determine if it is newsworthy or accurate."
The former (newsworthy) they certainly do "determine," since they get to choose which press releases to publish (they will typically receive 10 or 20 or 50 times as many as they publish). The criteria they use to "determine" newsworthiness varies between organizations, but is largely "what will interest readers."
The latter (accurate) is NOT something most news organizations check. In many cases, they simply publish the news release, and sometimes publish it as news, failing to identify its source as a "press release" distributed by a corporation. Same thing for press releases sent by various advocacy groups and non-profit organizations.
Of course, things that are major news stories (e.g., Enron) get some reporter time to check, but a heck of a lot of what you read in newspapers and magazines is entirely unverified, regardless of the source.
Electrical Engineer
Industrial manufacturing manager
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
www.qsicorp.com
