How much should you spend on a press release? A lot less than you might think.

According to the 2007 Journalist Survey on Media Relations Practices I posted on yesterday, reporters in overwhelming numbers prefer to get their news from us via email -- not the big newswires.

That's right.

• Nearly 8 out of 10 (77.9%) surveyed said they prefer to receive their news "via press releases sent to me by email."
• Another 4.5% chose "official alerts sent to me from a corporate online newsroom" ... which, of course, come via email.
• And, hold your breath, just 7.6% wanted their news "via commercial newswires (such as PR Newswire or BusinessWire).

Almost everyone reading this blog works with reporters in one way or another.  We take their calls.  Pass along information.  Set up interviews.  At times, we reach out to them directly.  We do this so frequently that it becomes almost automatic.

Thus, it strikes me that it might be useful to take a step back and ask one of those 40,000-foot questions: "Just what do reporters want?"

It's far too easy -- and glib -- to respond: "They want whatever they called about."  While true, that misses the key element of the PR/news media relationship.  Reporters, and the editors they work for, want one thing above all else: good stories.  That's it.  They want good stories, defined as those stories that will make it into their publications or onto the air with the greatest possible impact.