I will let you in on a small secret. Some of the news you see in the racing media (indeed any media) has been released to the journalists a few days before it actually goes to print. Before you snort indignantly (probably best to leave that habit to your horses) there are some reports that need a bit more time to prepare particularly if they involve very high profile events.

The media releases that fall into this category are headlined by a 14-18 sized font headline (usually in bold) stating "This release is embargoed until (date and time)". It's a win-win situation for all concerned: the international media get the necessary prep. time to ensure the public receive the full range of stories they will be hankering for, and all media release their stories simultaneously which gives no-one the advantage in terms of time (it then comes down to readers choosing their favourite sites/writers to receive the information).

The trade off for getting the information early is not - obviously - to ignore the embargo and print before the scheduled time. Apart from earning the wrath of every other international journalist who DID stick to the rules (if you decide to do your own thing) there's nothing quite as frightening as the phone call from the race club or officiating body if you mess up ... a dangerous position to put yourself in if you also have large advertising contracts in place with these people. It also potentialy means that you will be struck off from future media accreditation or press release distribution lists - which when you court information for a living is a tricky situation to place yourself in.

In the past week I have received an embargoed release about the Eclipse Awards and another about the Dubai World Cup Day nominations. The subject line in the latter email read: "EMBARGOED - Dubai World Cup Press Release" and when the email was opened the release started "THIS PRESS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNITL 1300 HRS (GMT) - 1700 HRS (UAE TIME) ON WEDNESDAY, 25TH JANUARY 2006" (which translates to midnight Australian time (so technically the 26/1) or 9pm HK time this evening).

Ok, yes, mistakes happen, but I couldn't ignore the great 'media watch' post that landed smack in my in-tray when Breeding & Racing's daily update arrived this morning.

15 hours still to go on the DWC embargo but what do we have here but the press release from the DRC. (You need to remember of course that the Club behind it - the same one that runs the richest race day in the world - still haven't gone public on any of this news either and the press conference to announce what will fill the front pages of most international reacing papers the following day has yet to even set up a microphone).

'A major screw-up' is the best way to describe what appeared in B&R. It is also somewhat frustrating for every other journalist who does abide by the rules and yet who equally stands to lose by others being so careless.

My fellow writers will understand the concern of writing a feature about the Eclipse Award winners or the DWC noms AFTER the awards or final noms have been announced. In the age of the Internet the public demand instant news but whilst headline-style material can be churned out quite quickly a good story/feature simply cannot be written in 15 minutes (well some can but I will leave it to you to judge the quality of such material). For this reason all writers remain very reliant on Clubs etc working with us to ensure we can meet the general public's needs when it comes to delivering a "big" story.

Here's the link to the Greenwich Mean Time website in case anyone needs to check the time in a different country in future. Meanwhile, one wonders if B&R will admit to their mistake (as in PR circles it is not a small one) and print an apology in tomorrow's Update ? Perhaps the Australia Day public holiday will provide them with the necessary escape route not to ...

For those that are interested the official DRC press release appears in full below.

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Update 27/1 - B&R did not print an apology in the Friday edition (Thursday being a public holiday in Australia).