This document provides guidance on writing effective news releases. It discusses the purposes of news releases, which include helping organizations achieve objectives in a cost-effective manner by leading to news articles that influence purchasing decisions. It also outlines the typical parts of a news release, including the letterhead, contact information, headline, dateline, lead paragraph, body paragraphs in an inverted pyramid structure, and boilerplate. The document recommends including quotes, tagged photos and videos, and suggested social media posts to maximize coverage. News releases should focus on announcements, reactions to events, comments on bad news, and localized stories.
2. Why are we writing news releases in the
first place?
• Help achieve organizational
objectives.
• Be cost effective.
• Lead to news articles, which affect
purchasing decisions.
• Third party endorsements are a big
deal.
3. THREE TYPES OF NEWS
RELEASES
• Announcements
•Personnel
•Product
•Financial
• Spot announcements: Response to
problems that you didn’t cause. We have to
close school because of snow.
4. THREE TYPES OF NEWS
RELEASES
• Reaction: When an event or situation
impacts the organization
•Bad news: Comment, don’t cover up bad
news
•Local news: Localized news gets covered
more often
5. PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL
NEWS RELEASE: STEPTS 1 & 2
1. Letterhead: Print the first page on
organization letterhead
2. Contacts: Make sure to add PR
contact information
6. PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL
STEP 3
3. Headline
•Factual
•Active present tense
•Devoid of hype
•Most important information first
7. PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL
NEWS RELEASE: STEP 4
4. Dateline
•City of origin
•Date
•Is this for immediate release or
“embargoed”?
8. PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL
NEWS RELEASE: STEP 5
5. Lead
•Most important paragraph. It lays the
foundation, draws in the reader and sells the
story.
• Summary Lead
•Most important item first.
• Think about your commitment statement.
• Think about why a viewer or gatekeeper would
care.
9. PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL
NEWS RELEASE: STEP 6
Inverted Pyramid Diamond
10. PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL
NEWS RELEASE: STEP 7
7. Boilerplate/Tag: A brief paragraph explaining
who the organization is and what it’s all about.
•Include a short, clear description.
•You can work off a company’s mission
statement. Don’t use if verbatim.
•If you win awards, let people know.
•Let people know where they can learn more
and continue the conversation.
11. WHAT ABOUT QUOTES?
• Use them.
• Quotes should have adjectives and
emotion.
• Know the process of quote
approval.
12. Things that are traditional
but are good
• Tagged photos.
• Tagged video, ideally through your YouTube
channel.
• Suggested tweets and Facebook posts.
• Suggested Instagram or Pinterest messaging .
• Ideally, a reporter shouldn’t have to lift a
finger to create content from your news
release.
