By Aaron Henry, Managing Director, Foundeast
The Real Work Begins After the Press Release
Most companies think the hard work ends once the press release has been approved, signed off and distributed to the media. In reality, that’s usually where the real work begins. A press release isn’t the finished product—it’s the foundation on which a much stronger story can be built.
The most effective public relations campaigns recognise that journalists are rarely looking for content they can publish exactly as it’s written. Especially today, with many newsrooms operating with fewer reporters and tighter deadlines, journalists need stories that are immediately relevant to their audiences. A press release provides the facts, but it rarely provides all the context, analysis and perspective needed to produce compelling editorial coverage.
That’s where experienced PR professionals add value. Rather than simply distributing announcements, they work with journalists to develop stories that answer the question every editor asks before commissioning a piece: Why will our readers care?
The answer is rarely found in the press release alone.
A Press Release Provides the Facts. Journalism Explains Why They Matter.
A company announcing a new factory isn’t simply opening a building. For one publication, it may be a story about foreign investment. For another, it’s about supply chain resilience or manufacturing capacity. A technology publication may focus on innovation, while a business newspaper is more interested in economic impact or competitive advantage. The announcement remains the same, but the editorial angle changes depending on the publication and its audience.
This is one of the most common misconceptions about media relations. Companies often believe that if a press release is well written, every journalist should tell the same story. In reality, every publication serves a different readership with different interests and editorial priorities.
A journalist’s responsibility isn’t to communicate a company’s message verbatim. It’s to produce a story that informs, educates or challenges their audience. The role of a PR agency is to help bridge those objectives by providing additional interviews, data, industry insight and access to subject matter experts that allow the story to evolve naturally.
One Announcement Can Become Many Different Stories
The same corporate announcement can generate several entirely different articles.
A manufacturing investment may become a story about supply chains in a logistics publication. The same investment could be covered as a foreign direct investment story in financial media, an employment story in HR publications or a regional economic development story in national business newspapers.
None of those stories contradict the original announcement. They simply examine it through different lenses.
The strongest media campaigns recognise this from the outset. Rather than sending identical pitches to every journalist, they adapt the conversation to reflect what matters most to each publication’s readers.
A Foundeast Case Study: Turning a Partnership Announcement into a National Business Story
We saw this firsthand during a recent campaign for Comin Asia, which announced a strategic partnership with Nokia to design and deploy sovereign AI-ready infrastructure across Southeast Asia.
The press release explained the partnership, outlined the technology and introduced the companies involved. It was accurate, informative and professionally written—but it wasn’t yet the story that mattered most to every publication.
When we began discussions with the editor at Cambodianess, the conversation quickly moved beyond the announcement itself. Their readership consists largely of business leaders, investors and policymakers, so the obvious question wasn’t, “What have these two companies announced?” It was, “What does this partnership mean for Cambodia?”
Working closely with the editor, we developed the story around the issue that was most relevant to their audience: how sovereign AI infrastructure could strengthen Cambodia’s digital competitiveness and support the country’s long-term digital transformation. We supplemented the original announcement with interviews, additional context and commentary that connected the partnership to broader economic and technological trends.
The resulting article was no longer simply reporting that a partnership had been signed. It became a homepage feature examining how Cambodia could benefit from emerging AI infrastructure investments and why the announcement mattered to the country’s business community.
That distinction is important because it’s the difference between publicity and journalism. One communicates what a company wants to announce; the other explains why the announcement matters to readers.
The story also reached exactly the audience it was intended to influence. It attracted the attention of senior business and government stakeholders, including Cambodia’s Minister of the Interior, who shared the article on social media, significantly extending its reach and credibility. That outcome wasn’t achieved because a press release was distributed. It happened because the announcement became the starting point for a much richer editorial story.
Why Collaboration Produces Better Media Coverage
The best journalists rarely ask for another copy of the press release.
They ask for the interview that wasn’t in it.
They ask for market data that explains the trend behind the announcement. They ask to speak with an executive who can explain why the development matters. They ask how the story fits within a changing industry or economy.
These conversations are where meaningful media coverage is created.
Good PR isn’t about controlling every word that appears in an article. It’s about equipping journalists with the information they need to produce the strongest possible story for their audience. When publications create valuable journalism, clients benefit from greater credibility, stronger engagement and wider influence than any syndicated press release could achieve.
Why This Matters Even More in the Age of AI
This approach is becoming even more important as AI transforms how people discover information.
AI-powered search platforms don’t simply count how many press releases a company publishes. They evaluate authoritative reporting, expert commentary and trusted editorial sources when determining which organisations deserve to be cited in responses.
A syndicated press release tells AI that an announcement happened.
A well-reported feature explains why it mattered.
That’s an important distinction.
Companies that consistently help journalists produce thoughtful, well-contextualised reporting are far more likely to become recognised as authoritative sources than organisations that focus solely on distributing announcements.
Great PR Doesn’t End with the Press Release
Press releases remain an essential part of public relations. They establish the facts, create an official record and provide the starting point for media engagement.
But they should never be mistaken for the finished story.
The most successful PR campaigns begin with a press release and then build upon it through conversations with journalists, interviews with spokespeople, supporting data and industry context. The result is editorial coverage that informs readers, builds credibility and reaches the audiences that matter most.
That’s how meaningful media coverage is built.
And increasingly, it’s the kind of coverage that both people—and AI—remember.
They identify trusted reporting, expert commentary, and authoritative sources when deciding which organisations to reference in answers.
Rich editorial coverage generated through meaningful collaboration with journalists is therefore far more valuable than dozens of syndicated press release reproductions.
The companies that become visible in AI-generated answers will increasingly be those that consistently contribute expertise, insight, and context—not simply announcements.
That’s why every successful media campaign starts with recognising one truth:
Your press release isn’t the story. It’s only the beginning of one.
At Foundeast, we consider every press release a framework rather than a finished product. By working collaboratively with journalists, tailoring every pitch to each publication’s audience and enriching announcements with interviews, industry expertise and local context, we help transform corporate news into influential editorial coverage that builds credibility with readers, decision-makers, and – increasingly – AI-powered search engines.