Another important source of unfiltered information provided by the Reform Party during the campaign was a complete archive of its press releases. This form of direct communication allowed for users to hear what the Reform Party was saying throughout the campaign, direct from the candidates and party leaders, without passing through the filter of the traditional media. For the Reform Party, which had trouble gaining significant media exposure during the 1996 campaign, the ability to deliver breaking news and information directly to voters is a very important development. The party achieved this goal by providing both up-to-date press releases and announcements at the site, as well as an archive of past releases. Over the course of the election, voters could stop back time and again for updated information, as well as to use the site as a source for research into past hot topics.
Individual releases saw the greatest levels of use within several days of their introduction, generally peaking within two to four days. The later in the campaign a release was posted to the site, the earlier it peaked, indicating that repeat users began to check the site with greater regularity as the campaign progressed.
The most-read release in the entire election cycle was a July 8 piece announcing the party's plans for its nation convention and progress on ballot initiatives across the nation. This page was hit 1165 times between July 8 and December 6, peaking with 88 hits in one day on July 15. The second-most popular release was a September 19 piece which culminated a series covering Ross Perot's exclusion from the presidential debates. Other popular items included articles leading up to Perot's debate exclusion and a release about the on-line component of the convention. These most popular releases are all common in that their topics gained significant attention in the traditional media. This suggests that many users of this section were drawn to the Reform Party web site to learn more about stories that they had seen or read in the news. Thus the site was allowing the Reform Party to speak directly to interested voters, but acted more as a research tool than a true broadcast medium which was checked regularly.