Does The Embargo Still Make Sense In An Age Of Instant Info

from the time-for-it-to-go-away dept

Reporters get stories that have been "embargoed" all the time. Basically, they're told about some information, but they can't write about it until a certain date. While the basic idea behind this is that the reporter can research the story thoroughly, rather than rushing to "scoop" other reporters, the end result actually comes off more as a coordinated PR stunt when all of the articles about some new company, technology or scientific breakthrough all come out at the same instant. The PR people love it -- but some reporters are starting to question whether or not the embargo makes sense. Especially in the age of the Internet, where information flow is nearly instantaneous, the idea of the embargo makes less sense. It gets even trickier when bloggers get involved. I can't remember where, but earlier this year, a blogger broke some story on his blog because he had been sent a press release that had been "embargoed." Realizing that he had never agreed to any embargo, he didn't feel it was a problem. Other bloggers have run into embargo problems as well, as they don't know quite how to handle a situation where they're under embargo for information, but others let it out earlier anyway.

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