Here's the deal with press releases. Reporters and editors are inundated with the things. My habit with them is to skim through them. If they have a local angle at all, I read it more closely. If it doesn't, I toss it. If it's something I can use, I treat it as a story tip. I then make calls, do interviews, perform research, etc.
I never, EVER simply stick my name at the top of it and turn it in. I've never lightly rewritten one and named it a staff report. The Texas newspaper I worked at for several years had a policy that you made a phone call regarding any press release you used as a news tip. You had to verify it.
However, at the faux paper I worked at in Florida, press releases were run verbatim in the paper with the release's writer given a byline. I squawked and complained about this to no avail. No one there really gave a damn whether they were putting out a good product as long as they got a paycheck and the publisher believed himself important.
It was an absolutely disgusting place. I'm still sad that I even worked there. I'm even sadder I was there as long as I was. Saddest of all, people are paying to read that crap.
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