Content we love is quality content: This is why it matters

A quality company does not just have quality products, or quality marketing, or quality press releases; the best companies have quality everything

On July 5 at around 19:00 Beijing time, PRNA editorial received a press release from Shenzhen-based UAV manufacturer DJI headlined ‘DJI Go App Now Includes GEO Geofencing System’. I confess that, being something of a Luddite, I had little to no idea what that meant until I read it, and had it not been for what happened later I would probably have just checked it, processed it, submitted it and moved on to the next task in the inbox.

But this little press release was destined for bigger and better things.

On their way to the U.S., Europe and APAC, the English versions of the release crossed the wire between 09:15 and 09:45 eastern time (21:15-21:45 BJT), as normal, but what happened next, for anyone who is interested in journalism and the way news stories can evolve – especially those stories that begin with a press release – is what gives the job we do meaning, and goes to show that, when it comes to respected companies that produce quality news, the world is all ears to what they have to say.

I’m British, so I don’t have much to shout about at the moment, but as far as global news organizations go I think the BBC is a pretty good one, and at roughly 18:00 BST, four hours or so after we at PR Newswire distributed our release, an article by the BBC’s technology desk editor Leo Kelion was published by the BBC. The headline of the article? ‘DJI drones gain geo-fencing safety feature opt out’. See the similarity?

Kelion’s piece is not just about DJI admittedly, but we can surmise from the headline, content and timing that the drone manufacturer’s PRNA-distributed release provided a good amount of background information. Also mentioned are perspectives from a robotics expert at Imperial College London, and a source from the UK Department of Transport (it is the BBC after all), so while it may or may not have been the original inspiration, the DJI release was perhaps the final piece of the puzzle Kelion needed for an article that takes a broader look at the current discussion surrounding drone safety. And one thing that is for sure, it was DJI that got their name in lights.

For me as an editor, to process a release and then see that release, or at least an evolved version of it, appear in the international media just a few hours later is genuinely satisfying. I get a kick out of that. And in terms of what our clients pay us for, their company name appearing in the headline of an article on one of the world’s leading international news organizations – an article that is then subsequently picked up and redistributed by dozens of media points that cover the industry – has to be considered a good return on investment, and is testament to the role press release dissemination plays in the wider world of news.

But this kind of respect, this kind of industry influence cannot be bought or assumed, it needs to be earned and DJI is a stand up example of a company that, for want of a better expression, has got their shit together. It’s no coincidence that when they do something, the industry pays attention.

The reason they only need to use our English products, for example, is because they provide us with all the translations we would normally provide for our clients as part of the service. This not only probably saves them time and money, it also, more importantly from my point of view as a writer, gives them total control of the content they distribute in every market they reach.

They prove that a quality company does not just have quality products, or quality marketing, or quality press releases, or, even worse, a clever but empty gimmick; the best companies, the market leaders, do everything properly, from start to finish, and as their chosen news distribution partner, we are a part of that chain that begins with their PR and marketing teams, and in a perfect world develops into a feature article by the most well-known global media.

This is why press releases matter; this is why quality matters; and this is why when, as editors, we send our client’s news releases on their way, the story is often only just beginning.