The curse of mailbox full... Now that email is the accepted form of communication between editors and those wishing to bring news to their attention, why is it that so many editors use their mailbox as a method of blocking relevant news – is this deliberate or does it just stem from IT ignorance?

OK, so this criticism does not apply to the majority of editors, particularly those enlightened editors that subscribe to our customised RSS feeds, but it does apply to some major publications that should know better. Often, we will receive the message “mailbox full” having sent relevant news stories to an editor.

Surely, with so many Spam tools available within Outlook itself and from third party software companies it is possible to “filter” incoming email so that it does or does not contain key words in order to ensure that only relevant content gets through. In particular large emails, presumeably where some well meaning individual has sent a high res 5 mb picture suitable for print publication, can be filtered out. It is the responsibility of the professional editor to review all potential news stories as part of the publications service to their readers.

We PR consultants all know that editors receive a prodigious amount of information but as the old English saying goes, “If you can’t take the heat, get out [of] the kitchen”. With today’s technology there is no excuse for the “mailbox full” message.

Of course, it is a two way street and the professional international PR agency, and I class BCM in this category, can help. Make sure the email header - please note, not the headline - summarises the content of the news story and that the press release is sent in the right format.

Now format, that’s another frustration, but I’ll leave that for another blog…