Last year, I took over as editor/publisher of the leading online trade journal for veterinary nurses in the UK. It's been a real eye-opener being on the receiving end of press releases for a change.

One arrived a week ago from the Samaritans, with the results of a survey the charity had conducted into levels of stress amongst Britons. A great piece of work it was too, containing all sorts of fascinating statistics.

Kind of interesting how people from different parts of the country react to stress. In Yorkshire, they kill themselves (or think about it, at least). In the South East, they become irritable and frigid. In the South West, they go for a brisk walk. In Wales, stress puts them off their food. And in Northern Ireland, they get drunk.

There's a lesson in this for anyone thinking about a career as a vet (a profession which already has a suicide rate 4 times higher than the national average): for God's sake don't go and practice in Yorkshire.

One criticism of this otherwise excellent PR campaign: the press release was sent a week in advance under an embargo. Why? I mean, it's fine if you're giving long lead time publications and forward planning desks a bit of advance warning (thereby putting them on a level playing field with the dailies). But sending it under an embargo to short lead time publications is just bloody annoying. Why not just send it when you want me (or journalists from rather more important publications than mine) to write about it?

Link