Part II News releases
Mind that the proper term is news release, not press release and certainly not handout. Strictly speaking, radio and television reporters are not the press; along with print and online journalists, they all are members of the news media.
In 1758, King's College (now Columbia University) wrote the world's first news release, announcing its graduation ceremonies. Despite today's fragmentation of the mass media and the emergence of new opportunities with organizational and interactive media, news releases remain an important tool for the public relations writer. An estimated 40 to 70 percent of material in the average daily newspaper has been linked to news releases, which provide journalists with both information and interview possibilities. A news release may announce an event or provide a follow-up report. It may present the organization's position on an issue or report significant progress within the organization.
Broadly speaking, there are two types of news releases those that announce something new and those that comment on something already in the news.
Releases That Announce. The most common news releases are those that provide advance information about a planned organizational activity. These releases may describe upcoming events or personnel activities such as promotions. They may focus on progress within an organization or new programs being developed. Releases announcing new products are more likely to be used by specialized trade publications than by the general media.
Releases That Respond. Response releases provide organizational comment on events, ideas or previous reports. They include new-information releases, which contain follow-up information on previously reported activities, and comment releases, which address messages to the organization's publics on matters of mutual interest. Response releases may tie into current events linked to the organization's mission. They also may provide follow-up publicity related to speeches given by organizational representatives.
The release should be clearly identifiable as a communication for publication or broadcast, and should carry a heading such as ‘News Release’, ‘Press Release’, ‘Press Notice’, ‘Press Information’, ‘Information from XYZ’ or just ‘News from XYZ’. If sent out by a consultancy, it must be made clear that it is issued on behalf of the client company or organization. An optional element in the news release heading is the news flag (which is simply the words News or News Release printed in large letters).
The title of the release should be in bold but not underlined. (Don’t write a too-clever-by-half or facetious heading – it won’t work!) It should say in as few words as possible what the release is about, and should not, if possible, run to more than one line. Use a present tense verb. If secondary subheadings or side-heads are needed, then these should be in upper and lower case, preferably in bold type.
The top of the release also includes the release date, indicating when the release may be used. This usually is designated For Immediate Release, indicating the media are free to use the information as soon as they receive it. An alternative kind of release date - seldom used anymore- is an embargo. This indicates a future release point, such as For Release on or after Friday, May 15, at 6 a.m.
Be brief and factual and keep sentences short. Two sentences per paragraph is about right, and often just one sentence will be enough to get a point over. The opening paragraph should contain the essence of the story and display the news. Here you must answer who?/when?/where? questions in the same way that a reporter is required to do. For example, if a company chairman has made a statement, give his name and position, the date (if you say ‘today’ put the date in brackets afterwards so there can be no mistake), where the statement was made, and, if at a hotel, name it. A trick here is to put the last two details in a second paragraph saying Mr So and So was speaking on (date) and (where) to save cluttering up the opening paragraph with detail that might easily obscure the point of the story. Never write ‘recently’ but always give the date. Following paragraphs should expand on the story. Try not to let the copy run over to a second page.
Write in a factual style without flowery adjectives and superlatives or emotive words when you are describing products and services (exciting development). To repeat the point, don’t put recently in a release if you can’t be precise: say last week/month with the date in brackets. Keep word choices simple. Write said rather than striving for subjective alternatives such as proclaimed, declared and observed. Be careful about using objective variations such as pointed out, added and replied. Avoid subjective superlatives such as greatest and best, and make sure that objective superlatives such as first, unique and only are actually true. Try also to avoid any needless or wasted word. Redundant words (in italics): appear to be, brand new, close proximity, crisis situation, frown on his face, few in number, include among them, merge/join together, more preferable/superior, if and when, invited guest, new tradition, penetrate into, on the question of, passing phase.
If you wish to make a comment about something, put it as a quote from someone in the organization. If there is a lot of technical data to be included put this as an attachment.
While it is true that most releases are emailed nowadays, there are still some that are sent the old way – by post. In that case, the copy should be typed double-spaced so as to give the subeditor plenty of space to make changes. Put at least a couple of lines between the heading and the first paragraph. Put extra space between paragraphs. Do not underline any of the copy. This is the universal mark used by printers for copy to be set in italics. Do not set any of the text in italics or bold in the forlorn hope that it will be seen as more important. If a title of a book, film or article is used within the text, put it in single quotes.
Type on one side of the paper (white, A4) and if there is a continuation sheet, type ‘More‘ at the foot of the page. Do not break a paragraph at the end of a page; if necessary take the whole paragraph over to the second page. Leave a decent margin on each side, about 30mm (11⁄4 inch). Do not try to achieve justified type where both sides are aligned. It is a waste of your time!
Use double quotes for direct quotations (the actual words spoken); this is standard newspaper style. At the close of the copy, type END or ENDS in capitals or a series of hatch marks, ######. Get the news angle, the point of the story, in the first couple of paragraphs. If you don’t it’s a no-hoper.
An optional footer element is a note to editors and news directors. This message, not meant for publication, may be a note about special access for photographers, the availability of an interview, or a trademark notice. If you have pictures, send them separately to the picture desk: copytakers will tend to ignore them as they will think it is nothing to do with them.
So what are the basic elements of a news story? First, it must be something new. Other factors can be grouped under three headings – importance, human interest and topicality. Importance can mean a well-known person connected with the story, perhaps a politician or public figure, especially if they have been in the news before. Human interest is exemplified by something that is interesting to the many rather than the few. Most people prefer reading about people to things: many column inches of publicity can easily be lost if releases ignore the human angle. Newspapers are increasingly filling their pages with background stories and feature articles on such subjects as lifestyles, health, entertainment, sport, home and garden. These subjects are all fertile ground for human interest stories.
A news release is not an advertisement, and it is never appropriate to lace a release with "puff" terms such as revolutionary and breakthrough. Avoid overly polite and formal phrases such as proud to announce. A new product or service can of course be a news story for release to the specialist press covering the industry sector you are covering, but if you put out an advertisement under the guise of a news story it is sure to put the editor off and ruin your reputation as a public relations professional into the bargain.
At a glance
Make sure releases are properly targeted.
Give full contact details, and show the date of issue.
Be brief, factual; type double-spaced.
Embargoed releases: ensure clear publication restrictions.
Is it news? If not, you’ve wasted your time.
Don’t try to turn a ‘puff’ into news.
Write the way journalists do. Keep to the point.
Follow newspaper style for snappy stories.
Don’t forget to send releases to news agencies.
Put your releases on your company's website; ensure easy access.
It’s essential to keep mailing lists up to date.
Most journalists throw wrongly targeted releases.
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