I have written in the past about press releases, and have posted some, too. My concerns about press releases are simple enough – newspapers and websites sometimes print press releases, carefully crafted or re-worked, without acknowledging that what appears on the printed page is the work of a third party.
It does not matter whether the publisher contends that he meant no harm, or insists that the release is the product of a government body, and so is in the public domain.
(Quick notes about public domain documents: not all levels of government across America recognize public domain in the same way, and contending that something is in the public domain does not mean that it is true. There is a simple belief some have that whatever government produces is true and neutral. That’s nonsense, of course. The idea is particularly strong in Whitewater, though: government as impartial, righteous, truth-teller. Too funny, really – a leadership that sees flaws only in others.)
Still, I see nothing wrong with publishing a press release, as I have done with certain charities, verbatim, and acknowledged as such. No editing, redaction, etc.: just the release, on its own.
Nor am I particularly concerned that some of the views in the release may not be my own. I think that readers know my views well, can always write and ask of those views, and will be able to see clearly that the posting is a release properly identified as another’s work. In these cases, I would be inclined to post the release on its own, without commentary. (If I felt I had some opposition to the content, I could post separately on that matter, after all. I would be inclined to wait a day between publishing a release and separate remarks on it.)
I’ll post a release that I have received recently, and more, from time to time, as they arrive to me.