The second option is better. I usually put copied text into quote brackets and use italicized or in some cases bolded fonts if I want to highlight a certain part of the text for more attention.

Regarding your question of meriting posts containing only info from press releases and other media.
I almost never do that. It would have to be something very helpful or useful for me personally or the community to be merit-worthy. A copy-pasted article seldom is. If it was posted in the local forum and translated and made to fit a certain language, the user made some effort at least.