Web Disclosure: The Ongoing IR Dilemma

Neil Hershberg, SVP of Global Media for Business Wire wrote an interesting op-ed in Bulldog Reporter’s IR Alert contending that web-based disclosure “still isn't ready for prime time.”

He cites a number of reasons why — one year after the SEC’s Interpretive Guidance Release — investor relations professionals are no further along when it comes to using Web 2.0 as a channel for the release of important information to investors.

Certainly, one key reason for the inertia was the horrendous financial meltdown, which began in 2007 and accelerated in 3008. In the face of chaos, Hershberg asserts, investors (and IR professionals) clung closely to what they believed to be “the global gold standard” of disclosure.

While I would agree that blogs, bulletin boards, Tweets and RSS feeds are no substitute for the traditional broad, simultaneous release of official information, they can undoubtedly be an extremely useful adjunct. As the aggregate number of analysts declines — and the number of investors using the social media rises — it’s good for the investor relations community to be prepared for an inevitable sea change in material disclosure.