You are right to poke fun at PR people. Mr. McHugh and Mr. Roth insist they have never once gotten a story idea directly from a press release. Both writers, interviewed independently, say the most useful feature of a press release is the list of contact names that are included, which sometimes make their way into the writers' rolodexes as potential sources. Mr. McHugh estimates that he reads in full only about eight percent of the 30-40 press releases he receives daily. The instant he notices an e-mail is a mass pitch or deals with a subject he doesn't cover, it's in the garbage.
Phone calls are a similar story.
Mr. McHugh says he always hears out a PR pro who has done a good job working with him previously. But when he doesn't know callers, he generally just asks them to send an e-mail. Once he's made such a request he will at least look at the e-mail , he says. But, to capture his attention, it better show some knowledge of the subject and Mr. McHugh's beat. That's because he usually is just trying to get rid of the caller when he asks for an e-mail.