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December 18, 2017

24-7 Press Release Newswire has written many articles on how to promote your press release, offered tips to make your press release stand out and even discussed the best times for press release distribution. One subject that we have not really delved into--and we received this question twice in the last two weeks--is "how do I retract a press release?"

There is no easy way to do it. Press release retractions can be a real thorn in the side. There is nothing nice about them. It involves a lot of running around and can have potential for journalists to either seek out what the actual story really was or shed negative light on your business in the eyes of the journalist.

There is a time and place to retract a press release--but to retract a press release because you were not happy with the grammar, or because there were some typos--those barely are reason enough to expend the energy necessary for a retraction.

Three of the most common reasons for requiring a press release to be retracted include putting the name of another business in your press release before you actually receive formal approval, releasing news that is not 100% accurate, or because you face potential legal questions. Disseminating news with information that is inaccurate will not earn you points with the media.

Online, information spreads quickly-especially through social media. If you need to retract your press release, you need to reach out to media outlets and inform them that your press release was sent too quickly. Search engines are also very quick to pick up and re-publish news, so we recommend putting your headline within quotations of the search engine and seeing where it has been picked up, then contacting those sources directly to have it removed. When requesting a press release to be retracted, you need to give the reasons why. Honesty is the best approach here, your credibility is already at risk, don't do any further damage.

Some people distribute their press release directly to the media and do not make use of a press release distribution service like 24-7 Press Release Newswire, simply because they have contacts within their area already. Some businesses will use a press release distribution service and also directly send it to a contact list that they may have. When you have distributed a press release through 24-7 Press Release Newswire, we also send retraction information to our sources. However, we still recommend you do a follow up through search engines.

For those who have not used 24-7 Press Release Newswire for the distribution of your press release and you are seeking retraction tips, we recommend sending a correction to the sources you sent your press release to, but only if the original press release that should not have been sent could come back to haunt you. Many businesses will also distribute a new press release immediately with the correct information. This is typically called a "Correction Notice Press Release," simply resubmitting with the proper information.

For further information about press release retraction, we recommend checking out Weidert Group Marketing & Sales Blog post titled "How to Distribute Corrections for a Press Release" - October 21, 2016, PR Newswire also has some great tips for press release retraction here or WikiPedia.