Categories: OLD Media Moves

When companies use the business media to promote themselves

Maybe it’s due to the uncertainty in the markets in the past few weeks, but I’m noticing an increase in companies issuing press releases mentioning the fact that they have been mentioned in the financial press, which is a sure sign of a business trying to drum up more positive coverage.

There’s a number of press releases out Monday from companies listed on the latest Inc. 500 list. See examples here, here, here and here.

There’s also a bevy of releases out from companies who have made other business publication lists, such as the Movers & Shakers. See here.

Then there’s the press release that companies release when their CEO is going to appear in the media. See here, hereÂ and here. Note that some of these are pink sheet stocks. And, of course, there are some business media outlets who will promote their “exclusive” interviews with CEOs, like this one for Tuesday.

Then there are universities that issue press releases about their rankings in business magazines. See here.

And then there’s the press release that states that the company has filed an SEC filing. Read here.

Is this a sign of anything? A drop in the stock market? The pending apocalypse? More important, why does the business media allow itself to be used like this by such companies?

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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Andrew says:
August 27, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Greetings from Bangkok. I don't think the business media has any control over what the companies they feature decide to do in terms of publicity following a story or interview.
For sure there's little chance that any business title is going to pick up on, for example, the NxTV press release you linked to, but if anyone does then it's only going to increase exposure of the featured magazine.