RSS and Media Relations: Is There Still a Role for Publicists?

B.L. Ochman asks if there's still a role for publicists in the age of RSS. 

The question came from a discussion at the Int'l Assoc. of Online Communicators' bloginar on RSS basics.  According to InfoWorld columnist and blogger John Udell:

[Udell says he stands by his blog post of two years ago that] "PR agents" would become coaches and mentors, brokering connections and helping individuals within companies develop communications strategies.  "Again," said Geller, "the best of them alread are."

Well put and very true.  RSS is just a pipe for feeding information.  Yes, of course, there's a role for "publicists" in the RSS age -- just as there'll be a role in whatever age supplants RSS.  If you're a smart practitioner, you'll know how your target prefers to receive data and use that method, no matter what it is -- it's the matching of critical data to a critical target that advances the editor's capability to report and also helps the client.  That's where the value is.

Later in the comments, Darren (whom I respect and whose blog I like though we differ in musical tastes) and Ochman have a discussion about the press release.  I think press releases are more dead than alive -- as I comment to Ochman, I've never had an editor beg me for a press release.  I have had them beg me for facts and data, which I'm happy to give through whatever method is convenient for them.