Remember when we were little and were playing and we’d somehow end up locked on the outside? The other kids would ask us: “What’s the password?” and they would not let us come in unless we guessed it? Sometimes it would go on and on cause we had no idea what the password was…Well, back then it was funny!

Protecting your media section with a password? Not funny anymore! I have ran across several websites lately that had such a marvelous strategy, but this post reminded me of it and of my needing to address the issue.

First off, why on earth would you need such a password? We’re usually talking logos, hotel photos, press releases, company overview, management and team profiles. How exactly would these be misused.

Secondly, any business needs the press, blog or social media coverage they get. And journalists, bloggers and social media users don’t have the time or urge to apply for yet another account that they might not use for more than once! Plus, if the deadline is today or tomorrow, no one will change an entire newspaper layout for you. No one will just wait in the high-seed online news world of today!

As their covering your story is something that helps you a great deal, why would you make them jump through hoops? Why would you make anyone who wants to know more about your company jump through said hoops?

As a PR specialist, I can’t find any way to explain this. If it’s to fish for email addresses, this is bad! Better create a special emailing list for the press and ask them to subscribe to it AFTER they get in the Media section of your site!