Ok, so remember when you were little and trying to get picked to play on the team? Well, press releases are kind of like that. There are all the kids- the chubby kid, the kid who is real excited but not much else, the one picking his nose, the little girl who is willing to go head-to-head with the boys and it’s just reality that some make it on the team and some get sent packing.
The same goes for the press release- an editor gets stacks and stacks of releases daily- the one with all the misspelled words, the one with no title or heading, the one with no contact information and even the good one- describing a fabulous up-coming event- that just doesn’t do anything to stand out and gets stuck in between all the other average joes- in the trash. By the end of the day, the editor has to pick the team, which make it and which do not.
O, the life of a press release.
A news release, aka a press release, is a way for companies or organizations to get news of an event, product, idea, etc. to the media, in hopes of being published for public exposure.
Editors receive daily releases, usually too many to keep up with, not only through the traditional mail, but also by email and fax, which makes it extremely important to know the logistics of a press release so that it stands out from every other release and doesn’t just get mixed up in the stack of all the other hundreds of unused releases.
Now let’s make that News Release an All-Star:
(this is just the basics)
- Follow an outline and stick to it.
- Provide all the “W’s” (we will talk about them in a moment) needed in the one release- one page only!
- Be timely- not too early, not too late.
- All the most important info should be put into the first paragraph, and then detailed in the paragraphs following.
So, the 5 W’s- Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?- The Questions That a News Release Should Answer:
Who is sponsoring the event, creating the project, etc…
Who is is the target audience?
What is the purpose of the organization/event?
When will this take place?
Where is this happening?
How will readers benefit from this information?
Why is this event or the like being created?
side note: Check to see if the editor of the outlet you are writing to has any specific guidelines for their releases.
If so, follow those.
If not, follow these.
Use 8.5 by 11 inch multi-purpose paper- avoid colored paper. I know you think it’s “fun” but let’s keep it professional folks. Your content should make the release original, not the paper.
There should be a two inch margin at the top of the page and 1.5 inch margins on the bottom, right and left.
10 or 12 pt font is preferred and legible fonts such as Courier and Times New Roman are ideal.
Use AP Style.
To indicate that the release is longer than one page, place the word -MORE- at the bottom of the page, BUT try to avoid more than one page. It comes across as too inconvenient for the editor- who has little time- to look at it.
To indicate that the release has ended place the word -END- or place a line of pound signs at the bottom -###-.
A Few Basic Types of New Releases
1. Announcements- new stuff- products, promotions, sales reports, anniversaries and such.
2. Spot Announcements- informs public of a happening that affected the organization.
3. Bad News- can be buried in a news story so readers do not consider it to be a “cover up” for a mistake. It is best to confront an issue immediately in order to prevent the media from making up stories or being informed of rumors. The worst thing that a PR representative can do is to refuse to comment on a situation- unless they are trying to be torn to shreds by media “assumptions”.
Basically, if you’re not sure what to include, I have three words for you-
LOOK.
IT.
UP!
There are plenty of resources, like Web Wire that will help Press Releases become an essential part of advertisement for your organization and is a lot cheaper than buying an ad slot.
All these notes are from Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques by Dennis L. Wilcox.
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