Arianna Huffington To PR Pros: ‘The Press Release Is Becoming Obsolete’

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington addressed the PRSA International Conference in San Diego yesterday. Speaking to a variety of topics, Huffington took the time to call out PRSA for not having wi-fi on site. “Make sure people can interact next time,” she said.

Delving into PR tactics, Huffington made a bit of a contradiction in regards to press releases.

She stated, “The press release is becoming obsolete…even though we still do it at the Huffington Post.” However, Huffington, in comparison to other media moguls such as Rupert Murdoch, is a firm believer in free and open content. “It’s no longer about proprietary content anymore, ubiquity is what matters,” she said.

She also had the guts to give out her email address to the entire audience, ensuring that her Inbox will be flooded with pitches for weeks to come. After her keynote, Huffington interviewed former health-care PR exec turned whistle blower Wendell Potter. “In my job, I was able to remove myself from the humanity of what I was doing,” Potter told Huffington.

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