In the beginning, there were press releases.

These were releases that were actually sent to the press. They were sent to the media and if deemed worthy then the media wrote a story about you. Nobody saw the actual release except for the reporters and editors. Your news had to be substantial enough to get covered. The only way your customers heard your news was if the media wrote a story about the content of your release. The only way to measure the success of your release was to use a clipping service to track it.