How to Write a Press Release

A press release is a statement prepared for distribution to the media. It is intended to give information that is accurate, interesting and, more importantly, useful to the vast number of readers that read them on a daily basis. They are not to be used as direct advertisements although if you publish content that is “newsworthy” there will be some inherent advertising value.

What Makes News Newsworthy?

Newsworthy refers to content that adheres to the following five factors:

Timing
The word news means exactly that - things which are new. Topics which are current are good news. Consumers are used to receiving the latest updates, and there is so much news about that old news is quickly discarded. A story with only average interest needs to be told quickly if it is to be told at all. If it happened today, it's news. If the same thing happened last week, it's no longer interesting.

Significance

The number of people affected by the story is important. The Americans winning the World Cup is more significant (for Americans) than say the Brazilians.

Proximity

Stories which happen near to us have more significance. The closer the story to home, the more newsworthy it is. For someone living in France, winning the World Cup in the USA has a similar news value to winning the World Cup in France.
Note that proximity doesn't have to mean geographical distance. Stories from countries with which we have a particular bond or similarity have the same effect. For example, Australians would be expected to relate more to a story from a distant Western nation than a story from a much closer Asian country.

Prominence

Famous people get more coverage just because they are famous. If you break your arm it won't make the news, but if the Queen of England breaks her arm it's big news.

Human Interest

Human interest stories are a bit of a special case. They often disregard the main rules of newsworthiness; for example, they don't date as quickly, they need not affect a large number of people, and it may not matter where in the world the story takes place.

Human interest stories appeal to emotion. They aim to evoke responses such as amusement or sadness. Television news programs often place a humorous or quirky story at the end of the show to finish on a feel-good note. Newspapers often have a dedicated area for offbeat or interesting items.

Writing a Press Release

A press release must conform to a format established by journalists in order for it to be published and read on the World Wide Web.
Begin the press release with the following, in this format:

In the Top Left: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Headline: Should describe the content of the story with a catchy title
Preceding the Story: City, State/Country- Month, Day, Year

One essential element of a press release is the headline; centered and not in bold, the title should be catchy, but short, and attract the reader so that they will feel compelled to read more. You can use the name of your business or a person here, along with compelling language.

Next is the body; containing all of the information that the press release was written for in an interesting and clear manor. Everything in the body should be accurate and true, and not misleading or false in anyway. During the body the “who, what, where, when, and why” questions should all be answered to ensure all information is accurately covered and that nothing is left out. Try to answer the “five w’s” within the first sentence if you can. To further understand the content of the body of a press release, it can be broken down and explained through paragraph descriptions:

Paragraph 1- This paragraph should contain a brief description of what the press release is about, but not too brief, just enough to convince the reader that they want to read on.

Paragraph 2- This paragraph takes the first paragraph’s brief description and goes into further detail about it. Try to answer as many of the questions you think that someone who would read your press release might have. Giving a press release a personal touch often creates more interesting content, which generally, attracts more readers. No one wants to read a press release that is bland and boring if there is one that covers the same information in a more interesting and exciting way, so try and make your press release as interesting as possible for the reader.

Paragraph 3- Usually the last paragraph, the third paragraph is used as a summary of the release, however, it can also be used for a place to give out further information on your company. Company information can be placed in the third paragraph to remind the reader of the company that produced the compelling and informative press release they just read. Doing this gives the reader a quick reference if they were to like the press release enough to want to learn more about your products, services or brand.

Under the company information place the contact information for your business. Use the following format:

Contact:
Jon Smith
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
1234 Fake Street
New York, NY 01235
987-654-3210

Overall the content of the press release in its entirety should be typed in clear and basic font (Arial or Times New Roman are good) and double spaced to allow for easy reading. If the press release is more than one page, the preceding pages should have the page number clearly stated in the upper right hand corner of each extra page.

At the conclusion of the press release: ### (three # symbols) should be centered directly underneath the last line of the release to state that the press release has concluded.

Following these parameters will ensure that the press release is written in the proper format, which is the first step involved in getting it published on the World Wide Web. A lot of the online press release websites will perform this formatting for you, so you can just focus on the content. There are numerous free and paid press release sites on the web, simply perform a basic search and you can check them out. Try to publish a press release every two weeks or so to remain consistent.

Reasons to Write a Press Release

• Hosting an event or a fundraiser
• Winning an award
• Announcing a new product or service
• Announcing an employee change
• Launching a new partnership
• Sharing survey results

View sample press release