Check your press release links

I saw an interesting press release today from the Department for Transport regarding the National Business Travel Network (NBTN) which promotes sustainable travel plans for businesses.  It is holding a conference as reported by Government News Network today and claims over 100 businesses have signed up to the initiative (which apparently is free to do).

So, I thought I’d check this out and tried to follow the link to the website http://www.nbtn.org.uk/ - but it didn’t work - giving me an error 404 message, which is common if a page has been moved or deleted.

The contact emails at the end of the release show it was issued by an agency, Forster - which doesn’t have the release or link on its site.

A search on the Department for Transport site revealed only an event taking place next March.  There was nothing about NBTN on the government’s Act On CO2 site, either.  Reports of the conference story online simply repeat the web address that takes you to an error page. 

I appreciate that technical glitches happen - but PR practitioners need to check for any release they issue - and when a story is reported that links are live and more information can be widely found.