"It's more effective to send releases through the post than email."

That was one of the more intriguing and interesting insights at a recent CIPR / MMU "Meet the editors" event.

Helen Carter, northern correspondent of the Guardian, advised that PRs should send key releases in the post because they stand out against the volumes of releases that can be "lost" in her e-mail. Postal releases are less likely to be ignored or missed.

Not sure about whether this preference applies to many journalists although things can get lost in the deluge of correspondence.

Helen and James Wilson's (FT) key points are that they do read blogs (Helen more than James). They do use search engines to find stories but blogs can be too slow for some stories as a source.

There is "a shift in thinking" according to Helen. The newspapers have been slow to adapt to the Internet but that is changing as younger readers do not buy many newspapers. The Guardian's foreign and city stories go on the website first. Podcasting is becoming common as is video camera.

And as Craig McGinty, fellow blogger, says newspapers will be replaced by mobiles to receive news or some other technical device is echoed by Helen. I think this is still open to discussion. The paperless office was touted first in the 1970s and my office is a mess of paper today. I aim to resolve that shortly. Sitting on the fence on this.

Lastly and encouragingly, nationals do pick up local stories regularly and see this as a valuable resource.

Thanks to all those who organised the event.