Boeing breaks the news barrier

As much as we're tempted to rant yet again about the inanity of press releases, we at Newsvetter have promised ourselves to stay focused on the positive ever since our last blood-pressure checkup.

To that end, we herewith officially laud Boeing for adopting a new way to provide information that forgoes the dreaded e-mail blast that no one ever reads and wastes tons of money. The aerospace giant has created a landing site (pardon the pun) that touts its new KC-7A7 line to replace the Air Force's aging tanker fleet, a contract worth a cool $40 billion.

The special site has been designed cleanly and accessibly, coming close to the "two-click-maximum" navigation concept that Newsvetter espouses. Mainstream journalists, trade reporters, investors, subcontractors, and even Pentagon procurement officers can all follow updates on Twitter, subscribe to its RSS feeds, sign up for online newsletters, or simply bookmark the main page.

In addition, readers can share Boeing's videos because the company was smart enough to post them using YouTube, not some proprietary technology. Also featured are photos, fact sheets, aggregated news headlines, and, most important, a blog.

Why is the blog most important? Because it is the main element that distinguishes the site from a static web page or a "social media press release" (a.k.a. online press release with pictures). A live blog is central to the perception that this destination is THE news hub for internal and external information on the subject.

Welcome to the future of corporate news, where the tables have been turned a full 180 degrees. Rather than a media outlet publishing a story that links out to company resources and information, sites such as this will increasingly do precisely the opposite.

Of course, we couldn't call ourselves true Newsvetters without offering a quibble or two.

Boeing launched the site yesterday with six blog items apparently written in advance--but, as of this writing, nothing has been posted since. Allowing the site to lie fallow would defeat the purpose of making it a leading information authority, thereby missing a huge but fleeting opportunity to draw returning readers with such newsworthy items as developments in the contract process and related global trade issues.

Why should the site passively receive headlines from newspapers and wire services instead of summarizing them in the blog to provide a comprehensive news source of its own?

Making matters worse, all but one of the existing posts appears under the byline of "Team Boeing," a monolithic label implying that the blog is written by drones not unlike the remote-controlled aircraft produced by other divisions of the company. The name itself is equally unfortunate, for it conjures some kind of cheerleading squad festooned with "B"-lettered sweaters and pom-poms--exactly the wrong image for presenting credible information.

These points might seem nitpicky, but details are important when setting precedents. After all, considering that the site was announced at the Air Force Association's 2009 Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition, Boeing must know that it's onto something new, if not groundbreaking.

Still, it's a noble first effort. And anything that hastens the demise of the traditional press release will be most appreciated by us, as well as our physicians.