A press release is a useful tool to attract media interest. It needs to be new, clear, informative and easy to understand. The heading of the press release is what will get the attention of media – or not.
Here is a list of questions you may find useful when considering writing a press release.
- So what? Will a journalist understand what’s new (or newsworthy) about my story?
- Why is it important for me to achieve my objective to share this story with media?
- What are my main messages?
- What is the story? Do I have new facts, stats, findings?
- Do I have/can I get hold of quotes to include, and from whom?
- Do I have a call to action/ask to include?
A press release should be a standard size (A4) sheet of paper with a margin of at least 2 centimetres on each side and at the top and bottom. Please see
here
a template press release.
Top tip: Always copy the text of the press release into the main body of your email, as journalists won’t always (have time to) open attachments.
Go to page 17 of your
workbook
to find a template press release.