The FusionBrand blog has posted a decent recap. of developments pertaining to the SMR, along with some ‘tentative observations gleaned from the debate’ (boy - that sounds like something I would write). 

Every time I read more about the SMR, there are more questions that pop-up in my head. 

It is really amazing to me that so much of this came from Tom Foremski’s critique of the traditional press release, which he admits to writing late at night.  Don’t get me wrong - Foremski is great - but he is also a journalist who is very much entrenched in the Silicon Valley.  What works for him isn’t going to A) work for the vast majority of journalists; or B) work for the millions of ordinary people (like me) who go to news aggregators and want to read a story written in classical prose.

Mind you, I do think that the SMR movement is bringing to light some very important issues - such as the role of spin in traditional PR - and the need to innovate the range of media that is made available through the news release. 

I think there needs to be more broad-based research done on perceptions of the SMR vs. traditional format amongst journalists as well as non-journalists before I jump on the bandwagon.