According to Alex Muse and Tom Foremski they should be.  Tom started the conversation with his piece, "Die! Press release! Die! Die! Die!"  and Alex piled on with his post, "Press Releases are for Bureacracies." Alex gives three reasons why startups should avoid press releases:

• They are expensive
• They get lost in the clutter
• They are written in ‘corporate speak’

Tom suggests:

Press releases are nearly useless. They typically start with a tremendous amount of top-spin, they contain pat-on-the-back phrases and meaningless quotes. Often they will contain quotes from C-level executives praising their customer focus. They often contain praise from analysts, (who are almost always paid or have a customer relationship.) And so on…

Press releases are created by committees, edited by lawyers, and then sent out at great expense through Businesswire or PRnewswire to reach the digital and physical trash bins of tens of thousands of journalists.

This madness has to end. It is wasted time and effort by hundreds of thousands of professionals.