Breaking the embargo; cardinal sin #17263

Posted by Vikki Chowney
on 21st January 2010
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48847025_8eb21aa811Twitter was flooded this morning with news of Nokia’s big Ovi announcement, which will see the company offer free satellite navigation functionality on its smartphones as part of an update of its Ovi Maps service.

It’s clear that Nokia had pre-briefed some press outlets (which is usual fare for this kind of launch), but as is always the risk, one of those involved ‘accidentally’ published ahead of schedule.

Just before the official press conference (held both offline and virtually), the story was leaked by The San Francisco Chronicle. It was picked up by Nokia’s press office almost immediately, and subsequently deleted. But as we’ve seen so often recently, you can’t delete things once they’ve been published and Google had already cached it.

Once upon a time, there were only print deadlines to consider. Now things are so much more immediate, and far more difficult to control once a story breaks. It really isn’t even the process of pre-briefing that’s the issue, but the nature of exclusivity. Breaking an embargo when everyone else has agreed to post or print simultaneously is one thing, but someone jumping the gun when it’s been promised as an exclusive is a whole other story.

Techcrunch famously wrote about its ban on embargoes in 2008, shifting the blame from over-eager journalists to PR firms. Editor of the tech blog, Michael Arrington, accused the communications space of attempting to get the story out to too many publications and blogs at the same time. “Today we are taking a radical step towards fighting the chaos. From this point on we will break every embargo we agree to.”

Should this have a greater effect on the reputation of The San Francisco Chronicle or Nokia? Does it reflect badly on the outlet that breaks the embargo, or the company involved in providing the information? It really comes down to perspective, it’s not good practice to break a story, as that gives those involved a bad name within both the media and PR world. But similarly, if a brand promises something to one publication as an exclusive, but then pre-briefs a load of other blogs at the same for maximum reach, a breach leaves them without a leg to stand on.

In this situation, we just don’t know whether an exclusive was on the table or not, so it’s not really fair to judge.

Recent comments

  • Embargoed news releases are no more - except in the time critical world of city/share deal announcements (for obvious reasons). In today's social media enviornment, and I include journalists and mainstream media here, to try to "time" an announcement is just not practical and does not necessarily suit the end purpose. The day of the 00.01hrs embargo is irrelevant.

    It is about targeted, bespoke announcements capable of generating a buzz. This isn't just about briefing a selected handful of journalists (or offering exclusives) - it's about providing individual and tailored compelling content suitable for on and offline outlets and capable of generating coverage through the plethora of available channels.

    Rather than timed announcements, it's about bespoke announcements - if "announcement" is the right word.

  • I have mixed opinions on the embargo / exclusive issue. Certainly trade titles are moving away from the "exclusive" story, more getting THEIR take on it. As long as the journalist is provided with as much access to the brand as possible, and allowed to write their story, exclusivity should not really matter.

    I have been burned by other titles when I've been promised a story first, but it's the nature of good journalism to want to get the story out first.

  • How about if we compromise on 'few that actually understand today's media' :-)

  • ReputationOnline

    Mark, thanks for stopping by. I have to disagree that there are 'few' organisations to offer exclusive briefs. Actually, it's still regular practice. Many multi-nationals such as Nokia also break news on official blogs, but there are a lot that go to a specific media outlet because of its audience. New media age is just one that works with brands to do just that on a regular basis.

  • Interesting piece. Sometimes when you as a multinational due to timing of a launch you have to walk this line. However there are few organisations these days that offer exclusive briefs, rather they try to prepare those publications who will use the additional time to either write deeper pieces or will be in bed when the news breaks. The irony in this situation is, as part of the Nokia Social Media team, we break news on our own company blog after our own announcements as a professional courtesy to those publications, blogs and writers who care enough to express their opinions.

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