Writing a news release

A press release might be the best way to present news to us for publication. It’s not hard to do. Here are some tips to follow.

Today, news releases can be sent to the paper by email.

Keep it short. Space is limited in our small paper; so brief items have the greatest chance of being published. If we want more information, we will get in touch with the news release writer.

Get to the point. The important information in your news release should appear at the beginning. This way editors can shorten news items by cutting from the bottom of the story, and yet the important information will be retained in the piece.

Generally, the lead of the inverted pyramid is contained in the first two paragraphs of the release. The lead should include the most important information.

Subsequent paragraphs are written in descending order of importance, with less critical information appearing at the end of the release.

Five W’s

All news releases must answer the following:

WHO – Who sponsored the event? Who will speak? Who is involved in the news event? Give complete names, spelled correctly.

WHAT – What will take place or what happened?

WHEN – Be exact with the day, date and time.

WHY – Why is the event taking place? Why is the news important? Background information could help explain “why” as well.

WHERE — Where is the event taking place?

HOW – Sometimes the five W’s don’t tell all the information. Sometimes we have to explain “how” an event took place.

The five W’s should always appear in the first 2 paragraphs, and sometimes “how” also.

Finally, the person writing the news release or news information should include their name and phone number, which need not be printed. Sometimes however, the editor needs to get additional information or clarify an item in the release.