Writing a Press Release

         I used to be a press officer. In my tenure, I ensured that my company was in the local papers every week with a good news story, that the impact of any bad news story was minimised and I went national 3 times in my first year with positive stories out of (nearly) thin air. I learnt a lot from my dealings with editors and, prompted by a question in the authors' newsletter, felt that I'd like to share the information I was given.

         Here are my top 10 hints. They break down in to writing the release and packaging it for submission. Because the release should not be viewed in isolation, I have started with the package...

         1a. Always include a photograph. This is especially true for local press as they tend to carry more photos, are often short of material and can be prompted to print your release just to use the picture. National papers rarely get sent photos and so your release will stand out and get more attention from the editor. Unlike local press, they are probably not going to print the photo, but at least you'll have got them to read the release! The photo should be an 8" x 6" print and in the same colouring as the target paper uses (b&w still tends to be the most commonly used). You should also include an electronic copy (owing to the dtp processes used) either on disk or include clear email details offering the digital picture file on request. There are a whole load of tips on the photo itself and what it should and shouldn't contain, but I won't go in to depth in this article (I'm now a freelance photographer in my spare time and could do a whole article on that subject alone!) Suffice to say that the whole story should be discernable from just the photo and its caption. This is why the 'grip and grin' of cheque presentations is such standard, if somewhat boring, fare.

         1b. Caption the photograph. This is really a continuation of the first point. The photo needs a short caption. This should be one average length sentence or two very short ones. The caption must answer the who, what, where and why. It could also include the how if you have space, but you should avoid the when as it will give your story a print expiry. (See below for print expiry). The caption should be printed on a label stuck to the back of the photograph. It must include the date taken, the title of your release, your contact details and the name of the photographer. Clearly differentiate between the caption and the other details - I always placed the caption in bold in the first line, left two blank lines and then placed the other details.

         2. Be legible. Print your release in 1½ line spacing on A4/Letter paper. Leave a good margin (1½") all around and never be tempted to put your release in narrow columns as you expect it will be printed in the newspaper. Place your title clearly, in bold and allcaps.

         3. Package securely. Include a piece of thick card if you have included a photo as suggested. Place the release face up on the card, then the photo face down on top of that and secure with a single paperclip. That way, the photo will not get damaged and when the editor opens the package, they will have to see the photo to read the release.

         So, the packaging is basically common sense. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the release itself, which is an odd beast.

         4. Keep the paragraphs short. On A4 paper with 1½" borders, your paragraphs should not finish their fourth line. Two lines is too short, but four full lines will give a large heavy block in an average column width. I found 3½ lines was generally fine.

         5. End the story in every paragraph. Editors will only print something because it is newsworthy enough and because it fills a specific gap on the page. This means that they may have to edit your release. Newspaper editors are not like book editors. To make something fit, they will just cut the last part of the release that didn't fit in the space they had! As a result, you must assume that every paragraph you write will be the last one that will get printed. So, get your whole story in the first paragraph. Then expand on it in the second. Use a quote (see point 5 below) to expand further in the third paragraph. Then put lesser details in the fourth etc. Test your release by placing a blank sheet of paper over the last paragraph and reading your finished release. Did it make sense? Good. Slide up the paper to cover the previous paragraph and repeat. Continue until you have just the first paragraph. Does it still make sense in isolation? If not, rewrite it. Remember that the cruellest cut could be that the editor needs a picture to balance the page, but doesn't have room for the release as well and all that it printed is the picture and caption. Was the whole story in the caption? Tough, huh?

         6. Have a good title. You are not a headline writer. That will be the job of the newspaper, but you need the release read by the editor, so make the title snappy. The less work that the paper has to do, the more likely your release will be printed. Keep the title short, informative, interesting and, above all, relevant. Alliteration helps too. 'Boscombe Brownies Bring and Buy' may be obvious, but use it. It may seem less easy for the scouts' jumble sale, but try 'Scouts Sale Supports Elderly' (or whatever they are raising money for).

         7. Avoid print expiry dates. A print expiry date is a hard date, usually included in the release, after which point it becomes impossible for the editor to publish the story. The obvious example is a press release about a forthcoming event. This release must include the date of the event (in the first paragraph - see point 2). Any issue of the paper/magazine after that date cannot include the release. This makes sense for events related releases, but what if the story is 'Group Event Raises Funds'? The release is about an event that has happened, so there's no advantage in having a print expiry date. Rather than hard dates, use 'recently' and other non-definitive time references. That way, if the editor cannot fit your release in the current issue, they can print it in a future one without it being 'old news'. This increases your chance of gaining the publicity. Remember to apply this theory to the photograph - a novelty cheque presentation will have the date clearly visible on the cheque, giving a print expiry date as the editor cannot hold this for too long before it becomes 'old news'. Try writing the date much smaller on the cheque so that it cannot be seen in the photo or come up with a better posed photo.

         8. Always include a quote. Just as dialogue lifts a narrative piece, so too does a quote lift a press release. It adds human interest and so will engage the reader more, meaning that the editor is more likely to print it! Always include a quote! But remember that you have to get your story across in the first paragraph and quotes will usually be expansion. So include them in about paragraph 3 or 4.

         9. Quote what was meant, not what was said. In real life, people rarely come up with pithy, readable quotes. Newspapers rarely include verbatim quotes unless taking something out of context from a prepared public speech. So, imagine your club is planning a fund raiser. At the planning meeting, the conversation goes something like this.

         Chair: 'I think that we should run a fund raiser soon. Any ideas?'
         You: 'Yes. How about a sponsored parachute jump?'
         Chair: 'Okay. Sold. I'd also like to give half of the money to the Tommy Tibbins Fund.'
         You: 'Why? We raise the money, we keep the money...'
         Chair: 'They're short of cash and they're cleaning up the graffiti in the neighbourhood. They could buy new brushes and buckets.'
         You: 'Yes, the graffiti that Tommy scrawled everywhere!'
         Chair: 'True, but it would be good to see the walls around here clean again.'
         You: 'Fair enough. I suppose it would be good to support something local for a change.'

Your quote should be something like:

         'We are delighted to support a local initiative at grass roots level,' said Edith Cotton, club chairman.

Edith will be happy with the quote and it will read better, making it more likely that the editor will try to keep your third paragraph.

Warning: As has been quite rightly pointed out, this can be dangerous if not handled correctly. It is, however, very common in UK, especially at local paper level. My advice is to phone the person you are attributing the quote to and run the quote past them. My typical calls used run along the lines of 'Hi, this is DP. That press release I'm writing needs a quote from you. From what you said the other day, I take it that you're happy with me quoting you as having said... 99.9% of the time, they would swear blind that's what they actually said.

         10. Link it to the readers. The readers need to be able to relate to your release, so make it relevant. If it's a local paper, make the story local. ...said Edith Cotton of Tavistock Road, Exeter. The more applicable to the paper's readers, the more likely the editor will publish it.



There's lots more in writing press releases, but if you follow the 10 hints above, you'll increase the chances of your releases being published. I could easily expand on these and additional points, along with a lot more about publishable photography, but I'll save that for another article if there's sufficient demand.

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