Press releases vs. original reporting

Original reporting:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-target0916,0,7555378.story
Target gives city $300,000


This is a prime example of original reporting. Though the original announcement may have been sent as a press release, the story was definately generated by the name on the article - Justin Fenton. He appears to have been at the scene of the public announcement as evident by the quotes present in the piece and the details he included on the event. A press release would not have gone into that kind of detail.




Press release:

MASN to launch HD channel
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-masn916,0,6590399.story

Okay, I guess I'm honking my own horn here with the MASN story, but can you really blame me? It still applies to a press release-generated article.
The piece is short and to the point with only one quote. The quote is from the spokesperson, and was probably pulled from the release itself (it's very official-sounding and public-relations sounding, too). It doesn't include any information on why the station decided to expand (though I guess I could find that out myself when I go into work on Thursday), how they plan to expand ot any of that other information you'd see in an original report. The whole thing is "Hey, we're expanding!" and little else.