WRITING A MEDIA/NEWS RELEASE

Issuing a media release (also referred to as a News Release) is the most popular method of communicating with the media. It can be very effective, however hundreds of media releases are issued every day so to even be considered by a reporter it is important that your media release is newsworthy, well written, appropriately targeted and professionally presented.

Using a release to communicate with the media offers the following advantages:

• It saves time for you and the reporter.
• It helps the reporter get their facts right.
• It may be used word for word in local or trade media if it is written in the right style.
• It forces you to think through what you want to say, condense it and check your facts.
• You can clear it with your organisation.
• You have a copy of what was issued.
• It enables you to inform a number of reporters or publications at the same time.
  

You will be wasting your time, and the journalist's time, if the information you are sending them is not relevant to their publication or program.

Generally, what makes news differs greatly from one time to another, one place to another and one section of the media to another. News is something that is new, current, unusual, sensational or will affect a significant number of people therefore it is in the public interest.

Every news story contains one or more of the following elements:

• Well known people - politicians, celebrities etc
• Timeliness - it is current and relates to other activities in the news
• A local angle - so is relevant to a small regional community, a state or country
• Public interest - it will be useful for most people to know about it
• Novelty - it is quirky, cute, unusual or "a first"
• Achievement - by an individual or an organisation
• Emotion - humour, conflict, tragedy or romance.

Publicity opportunities take many forms, but they must be a story that will interest the media. You have to ask yourself, "Is the story interesting, informative or entertaining?"

Soft news includes more human interest items and these stories can be amusing, astonishing, moving or just interesting or entertaining. They can include animal incidents, celebrity sightings and local events and public activities.

Different media report stories in different ways, for example, look at the same story reported in the Australian Financial Review and Melbourne's Herald Sun and you will clearly see that the tone, placement and angle is quite different. As you study the media, compare how major stories are reported in different newspapers and then listen for the same story on radio and television. Read and listen to the media and specifically look for stories which may have been generated by a public relations person and work out what news angle they would have offered the journalist.

You will soon develop a news sense and know which section of the media would be interested in your particular story.

CREATING NEWS

No matter how well a media release is written the content needs to be newsworthy and relevant to the media outlet for it to be considered. A public relations practitioner needs to be able to take a piece of information, an activity or an announcement and work with it to create news. Often an activity or milestone, while very important to an organisation, needs to be developed into a newsworthy angle by the public relations practitioner to interest the media.

When creating news think about how you can make this piece of information more appealing to the media. Consider the following ideas to make your story more newsworthy:

• Create a good pictorial opportunity.
• Have a celebrity or politician participate.
• Look at how the information might affect greater numbers of people than is immediately apparent.
• Localise the information to make it relevant to specific communities.
• Change the angle to interest specialist publications.
• Involve a charity or good community cause.
• Can this story be positioned as a trend or supported by current research or statistical data?
• Is there any potential controversy in the subject?
  

Once you have established that you have a newsworthy story and you have studied the media in your country or region, you need to match the right media to your story. Targeting the correct media is essential for success.

Sometimes it is more appropriate to offer your story to just one specific journalist on a selected publication and at other times a broader distribution is suitable. It can also make a difference whether you issue the story to print or broadcast media first. Broadcast news journalists will often report on a story that appeared in the morning's newspapers and create an issue on radio through the day that is then of interest to television. On the other hand, sometimes offering an exclusive to a television program is the best option as many programs will not be interested in a story that has already run extensively on radio or in print.

There are no hard and fast rules about who you should distribute media material to and when it should be released. Knowing how to get the best result for the specific situation by strategically issuing information is an important and learned public relations skill.

The only rules that apply to every situation are to be honest with journalists about who has received the information. Obviously, do not falsely offer a journalist an "exclusive" and do not promise a journalist something that you may not be able to achieve.

It is important that you do not withhold publicly available information and if it is in the public interest for information to be released, issue it as quickly and widely as possible.

SOURCES OF NEWS

The following can provide opportunities for generating publicity:

• Opening of a new operation
• Milestones or anniversaries eg. 10 years of operation, 1 millionth customer etc
• Sponsorship announcement
• Significant donations to charities or not-for-profit groups
• Launch of community fundraising programs
• Environmental initiatives
• Mergers and takeovers
• Introduction of new technology
• New product launches
• Financial forecasts or results
• Statements of industry trends
• New company policies
• Employee achievements
• Winning a new contract
• Employment opportunities
• Results of surveys or customer research
  

WRITING A MEDIA RELEASE

Before you begin writing your media release you need to identify the hook or angle that will interest the media. For example, you may be announcing the renovation of a local business - this may not be exciting enough in itself but the fact that the new look business will now employ 20 new people could be!

Ask yourself questions about what really is the most interesting and relevant angle to the story and remember you may need to undertake some more research to make your story really newsworthy.

Your media release should be structured as follows:

• Headline
• Lead
• Body
• End

Headline
The headline of a media release should summarise the key points but also be catchy, interesting and strong. It is designed to catch the attention of the editor and encourage them to read on. Remember that a media outlet will always write their own headline to suit the style of their publication and the amount of space available. Sub-editors write the headlines on newspapers and magazines - not journalists.

Lead
The lead paragraph is the key part of your media release. It should contain the strongest points. It is essential that your lead includes the most important information. It is easy to check your lead by remembering to include the 5W's and an H - Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.

• WHO did it?
• WHAT did they do?
• WHERE did they do it?
• WHEN did they do it?
• WHY did they do it?
• HOW did they do it?

Remember to include the full name of the organisation early on in the media release.

After the lead paragraph each remaining paragraph of the media release should be less important that the one that preceded it. This is called the inverted pyramid style of writing and it is very different to writing an essay or a report that builds up to the conclusion.

When written this way the story can be trimmed from the bottom up, paragraph by paragraph. Each paragraph is self-contained, and regardless of how many paragraphs are deleted the story still makes complete sense.

It is also important to make your lead as punchy and exciting as possible to encourage the reader to read on.

For example, the following lead includes the 5 W's and H so is technically correct but is not very exciting or specific:

It would be better to use a lead paragraph like:

A miniature village to teach pre-school children the basics of pedestrian safety will be built in the Bond St Mall, it was decided yesterday by the Board of Directors of the Mall Association.

Body
In the body of the media release it is important to prioritise messages from the most important to the least important. Use short sentences and short paragraphs with vigorous, active language. Always write in the third person.

Use quotes to make your writing more interesting but remember all assertions or opinions must be attributed to a particular person, or the organisation. The media are unable to use newsworthy assertions unless sourced.

The information in your release must be current, new or groundbreaking. Be original - do not use clichés. Try to bring your writing alive with immediate and active language.

End
The end of the media release is likely to be cut and very often organisations have a standard ending to all media releases. This standard paragraph summarises the essential background information about the organisation, event or person that is the subject of the release.

For example, "After opening in Australia in 1980, Read Enterprises has 17 offices across the country and employs more than 300 people. It is the largest distributor of educational books in Australia and last financial year had a turnover of $100 million."

Always conclude a media release with the word "Ends" and list contact details of people for the media to call for more information.

MEDIA RELEASE PRESENTATION

Your media release should be presented professionally and be easy to read. This applies irrespective of what method you are using to distribute the release - email, fax, mail or through a distribution company such as AAP Medianet. (Note: Today most media prefer releases to be emailed. Include an introductory paragraph and do not attached large files!)

• Clearly date the media release.
• The release should conclude with the word 'Ends'.
• Try to keep a release to a maximum of two pages. If you are posting it, staple the two pages together and print in 1.5 spacing.
• At the end of each page clearly indicate that there is more to follow by typing 'more follows' or '…2/'. Number the top of each subsequent page and repeat the headline.
• Use letterhead where appropriate.
• Head the release "Media Release".
• Stipulate the timing of the release eg. For Immediate Use or Embargoed until Time/Date.
  

IS THIS MEDIA RELEASE AS GOOD AS IT CAN BE? CHECKING YOUR MEDIA MATERIAL

When you have completed a first draft of your media release consider the following points:

• Do you have all the facts and information necessary to provide enough detail to interest the media?
• Is this information really news - how can I make it more interesting? Can I link it to any topical subjects in the news?
• Who are your competitors and how does this news compare to what they are saying?
• What is the news hook? Is it strong enough?
• Do you have a good media spokesperson who has had media training?
• Do you have the endorsement of any third parties eg. industry groups?
• Is the story believable?
• Is this a trend?
• Does your first paragraph include who, what, where, when, why and how?
• Is the text written in the third person?
• Does the release flow well?
• Have you spell checked? Has someone else proofed the release?
• Is the story objective in tone?
• Can you make the language stronger or more colourful?
• Can you shorten any sentences? Can you shorten the whole release?
• Are there any clichés?
• Is the release correctly presented?
• Does it need to be cleared by your legal department?
  

USE OF EMBARGOES

An embargo means the use of a media release is restricted until the time and date specified on the written material. Embargoes are not popular with the media and are also a very risky technique for public relations people. Embargoes cannot be enforced so you are simply relying on the journalist to honour the embargo. There are no guarantees that this will happen.

An embargoed release needs to be clearly marked with the time and date after which the material can be used eg. EMBARGO Not for release before 12 noon, 17 September.

Embargoes should only be used when there is a very specific and justified reason such as a legal matter with a pending court decision.

ATTACHMENTS AND ENCLOSURES

Sometimes it is appropriate to accompany your media release with additional information or illustrations.

Additional information can be distributed in hard copy, on compact disc or via email or made available on a web site and could include photographs, graphs, illustrations, fact sheets and background information.

Make sure all illustrations, graphs or photographs are thoroughly captioned and referenced.

STYLE TIPS

Your organisation may have a specific style required for writing media material. If your company does not have a style guide, it might be worthwhile establishing some house style rules to ensure consistency and professionalism. All publications have their own house style and will adapt material sent to them to suit their style.

General style guidelines are:

• Never underline anything in the body copy. Underlining is an editor's instruction used to tell a typesetter to produce these words in italic.
• Except in dates, times, prices, street numbers, weights and measurements, spell out from one to nine, then use figures until they become unwieldy and it becomes clearer to write eg. 10 million.
• Do not use % in sentences. Spell out 'percent'. Do not use an ampersand (&) in sentences.
• Spell out abbreviations of the words street, avenue, boulevard etc.
• Never type company names, product names or anything else all in capitals. Only the first letter of each word in a company or trade name should begin with a capital letter.
• Write the copy in third person.

Most newspapers publish a house style booklet for use by their journalists and it may be possible to obtain a copy. Fowler's Modern English Usage, published by Oxford University Press, is also a good reference. The Style Manual published by the Australian Government Publishing Office contains valuable information for writers, editors, and just about anyone who works in print.

Excerpt from Tymson & Lazar: The Australian & New Zealand Public Relations Manual