Using FlashNews to push your message out

You think you get a lot of spam? Imagine being an assignment editor in a major newsroom. Their challenge is even tougher - they're supposed to get a lot of mail from complete strangers.

If only there were a way that legitimate news providers (like, say, campaigns and advocacy organizations) could ensure that their press releases get directly into the inbox. If only there were a way that the press could receive emailed press releases - segregated from the flood of spam.

Turns out there is. FlashNews started out as a system for distributing the crush of school-closure announcements and the like during weather mayhem, but has since expanded into a full-fledged press release distribution and news conference scheduling system. Originally designed to segregate real school-closure notices from the student pranksters, FlashNews now helps the media by putting press releases in a separate box than spam.

News organizations have found the system so reliable that some have set up automated publishing for all press releases that come inbound. See KGW for an example.

The system is free for media organizations, so they're all on the receiving end, and very inexpensive for nonprofits and campaigns - somewhere in the range of $80-$160 a year.