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When NBC broke an embargo on a study released by the American Association of University Women last June, the group's protests renewed debate about how editors handle such restraints. In an age when news can travel from one side of the world to the other in seconds, have embargoes become dinosaurs?

Tim Russert, NBC's Washington bureau chief, says he approved a story about an AAUW sexual harassment study for the nightly news a day early because some newspapers' bulldog editions already had the story.

"We don't break embargoes if they're fair to all parties," he says. AAUW spokesperson Gabrielle Lange says the embargo was designed "to give reporters time to do their homework. I'd hate to think we won't be able to use them as a tool anymore."

Others weigh in:

Joseph Cerrell, chairman, Cerrell Associates, Los Angeles public relations firm: "It's been a long time since we put an embargo on anything. With all the new high-tech gadgetry, we can get a release out to the media very fast. I also don't want the media telling me they're not going to use a release when somebody else breaks an embargo. In fact, why do we still have the line 'For Immediate Release'? It's wall decoration."

Eileen Murphy, spokesperson, ABC News: "The standard practice is that we honor embargoes."

Roy Brunett, spokesperson, CBS News: "We will abide by it unless it is broken by another news organization."

Bob Druckenmiller, president, Porter/Novelli, public relations firm: "We offer embargoed material to reporters or editors who have a strong relationship with us or our client. We do not send them to media with an immediate turnover such as wire services and assignment editors."

Donald Nordberg, news editor, Reuters America: "I hate embargoes; they're anticompetitive. The only justification is if you have a very complicated document."

Roger May, spokesperson, Wall Street Journal: "If it's market-moving information, we'll [break] an embargo."

Larry Friedman, vice president for media relations, Hill & Knowlton, public relations firm: "I warn clients not to embargo anything. If it's good enough news, somebody is going to break it. It's less experienced people who want to tell the press when not to use a story."

Judy Peres, national editor, Chicago Tribune: "Embargoes are a pain in the neck. But the only time we would break an embargo is if it's already broken. Sometimes we feel unfairly burdened because they'll put a 6 p.m. hold on it; that's clearly intended to give television the scoop. We'll observe it, but we probably won't put the story on page one the next day."

George Cotliar, managing editor, Los Angeles Times: "We occasionally get burned by a certain East Coast Times, but we do live with the embargo. It's nice to get a chance to absorb the 11,000 pages we got on the [federal] budget. I'm as competitive as anyone, but what's to be gained by beating other newspapers by one day [on complicated material]?"

Andrew Rosenthal, Washington editor, New York Times: "It depends on the story."