News releases: selling your story.

Dating back to the early 1900s, news releases have been the oldest form of contact with the media, and are the absolute foundation of any publicity program. A news release (also often called a media release) is your major point of contact with the media, and is also the most reliable way to "get the word out" as it is the source of so many news stories. Your business or organization will almost certainly receive its share of coverage if the news stories are well written.

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Such a vital communication piece is well worth doing properly and is really not difficult if you keep some basics in mind.

When promoting a newsworthy event, the news release is your pivotal communication piece to the local media. Even if you should choose another method of approaching the media, such as holding a news conference, it will almost certainly still involve writing a news release, and so it is well worth your-while to know how to create an effective one.

Remember that there are many other releases competing with yours for newspaper space or air time, and that busy news editors and reporters will often make quick judgments on which ones will receive further consideration. That is why both format and content are so important. Results of an Angus Reid survey of news editors illustrated this fact perfectly when it showed that, of the vast number of news releases received, only about 13 per cent are considered useful. Now, the goal is to make sure yours is in that category! In order to know how to prepare an effective release that is attention-getting for all the right reasons, it's very helpful to know the wrong reasons and to take a look at why so many are rejected.

Since newsrooms are busy places and receive so many releases, staff can often take only a couple of seconds to judge them--if it looks like news and is professionally constructed, chances are that it will receive further consideration.

Releases are commonly rejected for being too long and too numerous--that is, too many from the same source. If the contacts that are listed are unavailable or difficult to track down, it will also not receive the attention you want.

Basics for release writing

Ensure your release is neatly typed on plain white eight-inch by 11-inch plain white bond paper. No matter how much you may want to fancy it up with interesting designs on brightly coloured paper--don't!

Some company letterhead contains a lot of information in itself (names and phone numbers, etc.) and, if this is the case with yours, be aware that you will not be able to fit as much copy on the page and lengthy letterhead could actually turn a one-page release into two pages, which you want to avoid. Keep the document to one page and make it double-spaced throughout.

In the event that you end up with a two-page release, make sure the first page ends with a complete paragraph and that you have typed "More" across the bottom of the page. The second page will also require a heading.

Writing a news release is definitely one of those cases where "less is more" because its real purpose is to get the media's attention and prompt them to call you for further information.

Think of it as tipping them off to your story and making them want to find out more about what you've got going on with your organization or business.

Let's explore the anatomy of an effective release.

The title

Make it catchy (but not cutesy), because this is the first thing the reporter reads. Ensure the title is interesting and informative.

For immediate release:

This means the story is available to the media immediately. If you have a reason for asking that the story be embargoed--held--until a certain time, perhaps to maintain confidentiality, it could instead read "For Release After Feb. 16, 2003."

When and where:

Always put the name of the city/town where the release is originating, as well as the full date--month, day and year.

Lead paragraph:

The first sentence needs to pique the reader's interest as it opens the paragraph that contains all the most important information--usually the five W's of who, what, when, where and why. Balance is your watchword here, though. Ensure all the newsworthy points are contained here, but also keep it succinct. Write it in such a way that even if they don't read any further than this, they still understand your message.

This next paragraph or two gives you the opportunity to explain further and to provide more details with facts, statistics, background information, etc. Include a quote pertinent to the subject of the release--usually from the director of the organization, president of the company, or an expert in the field. It's helpful if the quote is from a person well known in the community. Be sure the quote is word-for-word accurate and obtain the person's permission to use it before going ahead and doing so.

The finish line:

I always recommend closing a release with your company or organization's corporate or mission statement. And underneath it all, don't forget the -30--which is simply the journalistic way of saying "The End."

Shirley Harasym is a well-known broadcaster and owner/manager of Inside Track Communications in Sudbury.