Canadian government kicks traditional press releases to the curb

By Matt Wilson

The Canadian government is ditching the traditional press release for an entirely different format designed for the Internet age.

“The media and stakeholders will get a fresh approach from Canadian Government departments and agencies,” Kim McKinnon of the Communications Community Office wrote in an official blog post. “Two or three paragraphs of short, crisp text will allow them to scan quickly for the key messages of the announcement. The new format also offers quick access to key facts and additional resources.”

The post includes a link to an example of the government’s new release format. After some brief introductory paragraphs, the release goes into “quick facts” bullet points, followed by a quote, and some links.

Government communicators will be encouraged to “repurpose the quick facts and quotes for Facebook and Twitter posts,” according to McKinnon’s post.

The new release format coincides with the recent launch of the government of Canada’s newsroom website.

The Canadian government isn’t quite taking the advice of Coca-Cola’s Ashley Brown, who hasadvocated for the death of the press release altogether in favor of brand journalism initiatives. Its press releases are evolving, not going out the window. After all, McKinnon’s blog post is titled, “The press release is dead. Long live the press release.”

Still, it’s a major step. What do you think of the Canadian government’s push for a “more digital-friendly product”?