According to our press surveys, the media prefer to receive unsolicited material that isn't urgent or time sensitive as follows: first, via mail (90%); second via fax (60%); third via e-mail (30%). Note the emphasis on unsolicited, isn't urgent, isn't time sensitive. And the e-mail figure is skewed toward high-tech media, so it's lower on average for other media categories such as the travel or consumer press.

[Editor's Note: The anthrax scare in New York City and Washington, DC, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks may have changed the first preference, but the media tell us they are still receiving mail but processing it more slowly with special handling and equipment to detect contamination.]

"Blast" or broadcast faxes are attractive because they are transmitted to editors by name and editorial beat, and distinctly addressed with a free cover page – far more tailored than by wire to a generic editor's department. And with the MDS "Fast-Fax" system, the sender can get the recipient names and phone numbers for follow-up "pitches."

Reporting on a survey this past year on how newsrooms prefer to receive news releases, Media Relations Report wrote: "Most reporters don't like to receive news releases via E-Mail; faxes are the preferred method." In short, you should avoid cluttering up e-mail boxes of editors and reporters with information they didn't specifically request – PR 101 advice, but something that bears repeating again and again.

Our recent inquiries on the subject have shown a marked preference among editors and reporters for e-mail messages delivered in the e-mail window proper – i.e., short messages (100 words or less) that hyperlink to the full text, which is stored on a server. Loading the e-mail message window with several pages of unformatted information or multiple graphics isn't satisfactory. The short message is like the lead in a good news release – it attracts the recipient's attention and makes him or her want to read more. For e-mail, the "more" is found via the hyperlink.

In addition, e-mail attachments as most of us typically understand them are generally unwelcome, especially among newspapers, because of the download time involved in opening many of them, and the potential for platform conflicts and viruses.
So one clear option is to send the message in HTML so that it automatically pops up in the recipient's message window with hyperlinks as required. He or she doesn't have to go in and out of a conventional attachment to see the graphics or links to other sites.

If you send photos with your e-mails, the best approach is to show an HTML thumbnail of the photo with a hyperlink to a downloadable copy that resides on your server or another server. As an alternative, you can put a note in your text that photos are available and include a hyperlink to a viewable, downloadable file (at least 300 dpi). As usual in public relations, making things easy for the media remains a cardinal rule for practitioners.

Also, keep in mind that some people may not want to work with HTML files. They prefer text files. So, give them the option by including a hyperlink in your e-mail to a text version of your HTML document.