I was pretty impressed today with my PR class. We were asked to remember everything we knew about how to structurally write a news release, and we came up with a pretty long list. Having not written a release since last semester I surprised that we remembered as much as we did. We then applied this list to study product news releases students found online. We learned the basic structure to writing product releases, bu when we applied that knowledge to what we had brought in there were very few similarities.
I find that often in class we learn something and then find it is done differently among PR professionals. Do people just forget how to write a release? I know that I forgot in just a semester time. So to help me remember, I found this site from the Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI) that gives some excellent details on how to write a release. They suggest the follow format:
Headline – Be creative. One sentence. Use proper title case, capitalizing every word except for the following articles: of, it, the, a, an, from, and, is, by …
City, State (PRWEB) Month Day, Year — Grab their attention here. A strong introductory paragraph should cover who, what, when, where, why and how.
Put the body of your press release here. Expound on the information provided in your introductory paragraph. Include quotes from key staff, customers or subject matter experts.
The body of your press release should contain more than one paragraph. The final paragraph should restate and summarize the key points of your news release.
For additional information (or sample, copy or demo), contact: (include contact information here)
You can include details on product availability, trademark acknowledgment here.
About XYZ Company
Include a short corporate backgrounder.CONTACT INFORMATION:
Contact Person
XYZ Company
555-555-5555
555-555-4444
http://www.YourWebAddress.com (if applicable)
NOTE: Do not include e-mail address here. We have a special place for your e-mail address.Include safe harbor statement (if applicable).
I definetly recommend the site for anyone wanting to get back to the basics of writing a news release. There is tips on formatting, editing and content. Check it out, How to write a press release.
Also, is it news release or press release? What’s your preference?
