Public Relations
Press Releases
Although PR doesn't stand for press release, a press release is one of the simplest and most useful tools you can use to get your organization's name out there. Also called a news release, media release or just a release, it is a written statement to make an announcement about your organization to members of the news media. The topic of the press release is usually a major announcement, but it must be news-worthy. It is estimated that 50,000 press releases are issued every month, which equates to about one every 12 seconds. Some topics include the announcement of a new company, a merger between two companies, a new addition to the management team, a new product or service, or a response to a crisis, which we will address later.
Header: View the example here to see what a standard press release looks like. Note the important things to include in the header - company name and contact information, logo, contact person (who the media should call with questions) and contact person's phone and email address. You must determine whether or not you want to embargo the release. An embargo is an unspoken rule among members of the media to respect a certain date on which the announcement can be made public. Most press releases are "for immediate release" for the sole reason that not all member of the media will respect the embargo date, either because they want to be the first to break the news or because they simply don't notice it. If you do choose to send the release to media outlets before you want the information to be made public, try not to do so more than 24 hours in advance, and replace "For immediate release" with "Embargoed until Month Date, Year."
Title: The title of your press release is what will determine whether it gets read or sent to the round file. It must be brief, but attention-grabbing. It is OK to have a subheader in a slightly smaller font that explains the title in more detail, but the header and subheader should be limited to four lines in total.
Body: The inverted pyramid style of writing is what is used by journalists and television reporters. This means that you want to put the most important and relevant information at the beginning, a quote from a key individual in the middle, and the minute details for the end. Most people never read beyond the second paragraph of a news story, and the same can be said for how much of a press release an editor will read before deciding whether or not it is worth his or her time. A press release must be a factual, objective document. Limit your use of adjectives and be aware that anything that sounds like it is flaunting or complimenting your organization will lose you credibility.
Other Tips: Your press release should be limited to one page if at all possible. If you need more room, make sure to include "-more-" at the bottom of each page, centered. Then at the top of each additional page, add a two-word phrase that describes your title or topic plus the page number. For example: "NEW CEO, PAGE TWO". This should be bold and left-aligned. At the end of your press release, include "###" one line after the last line of text, not at the bottom of the last page.
Boilerplate: Also called a boiler, this is the paragraph or two at the bottom of a press release that briefly describes the organization. For example:
Caring for the world, one person at a time…inspires and unites the people of Johnson & Johnson. We embrace research and science - bringing innovative ideas, products and services to advance the health and well-being of people. Our 119,000 employees at more than 250 Johnson & Johnson companies work with partners in health care to touch the lives of over a billion people every day, throughout the world."
Distribution: In traditional PR, an organization has a list of local, regional and national media outlets - with the most common being newspaper and television, as well as radio and now, online media outlets. It is standard practice to call each media outlet and ask for their preferred method of receiving press releases. You might be asked to email or fax it to the news department or a specfic person. Or you may be asked to submit the release online by filling out a simple form, which typically asks for a contact name, phone number and then provides you with space to simply copying and pasting the text from your press release. This is to ensure that you are not sending a virus. Similarly, when you are asked to send the release via email, you will most likely send it in the body of the email (using an email program such as Microsoft Outlook) rather than as an attachment. Most media outlets cannot accept email attachments, so you don't want to send your press release as a Word document or PDF unless you have been given permission. And when you do get that permission, sending the press release as a PDF is preferred, so your work cannot be edited or manipulated the way it can be in a Word document.
OR
You can use a distribution service, such as PR Newsire, BusinessWire or PR Web. These are typically expensive services, ranging from $200 to $4,000 per release. Meanwhile, maintaining your own media outlet database is free, and journalists are far more likely to run stories from individuals and organizations that have developed a professional relationship with. So our recommendation is to get to know your local and regional reporters, and even the national ones if you can!