Who? What? Why? Where? When? And sometimes How? These questions (the five Ws) are the basis for the inverted pyramid form of writing used in journalism. For anyone who’s producing press releases, an understanding of these and other basic journalism principles is necessary.
First, make sure that you have a viable story; in marcom (marketing communications) terms, that often means you have a product announcement or information about the sales team. Then be sure to answer as many of the Ws as you can in your first sentence since news releases are cut from the bottom up. Also, remember that many stories do not have all five of the Ws.
As a technical writer, you have to control the impulse to always answer the question “How?” in overwhelming detail and, as a marcom writer, you have to control the impulse to add excessive hyperbole and punchy sentence fragments.
The mechanics are fairly simple but I strongly advise that you look at a sample before you start writing. Pick up a book on publicity or media relations or better yet, get your hands on a press release that someone else has written. You’ll notice:
the words “Press Release” or some variant such as “Media Release” or “News Release”
contact information
a headline
a dateline — where and when the release was written
release information — the date when the reporter can use the information in a story (most specify, “For Immediate Release”)
an indication of the end of the release, usually “30” or “End” or “###”.
Yes, you have to note when the press release ends. If you put contact information at the bottom of the release, as some organizations do, you don’t want to see that information become part of the story.
Most press releases are one to two pages. I have seen longer ones but the story has to be important.
It happens more infrequently than we like but occasionally, on receiving your press release, a reporter will proactively phone you. You’d be surprised how many people do not plan for this possibility. Before you send out the press release, make sure you have additional materials and/or an interview subject for any reporters who call wanting to pursue a story idea.
More likely, you’ll be chasing after reporters. If you want coverage — and there are no guarantees — always follow up with a phone call. (Not all announcements warrant a follow up.) The simplest thing to do is ask if they received the release. And time your phone calls so that you’re not interfering with a deadline.
When you’re targeting your distribution be as specific as possible. Find out which reporter should be receiving your release. It’s also a good idea to find out what format the reporter prefers — email, fax, or, more rarely, snail mail.
With new ways to send messages, it’s important to consider how you’ll be distributing your press releases in the future. According to Asa Zanatta of Spirit Communications and Wireless Innovation Network of BC (WINBC), “We’re keeping an eye on Japan and how wireless and cell phone communication is evolving there. They’ve been the leaders in developing and using SMS (short message service) and MMS (multimedia message service). And as far as we’re aware, nobody is text messaging their news releases yet.”
There’s a lot more to know about press releases, publicity, and media relations, but this should get you started. Next issue I’ll be covering newsletters and case studies.
