Fall 2014 news release

#OUJ3700

News Release

Why are we writing news releases in the first place?

• Help achieve organizational objectives.

• Be cost effective.

• Lead to news articles, which affect purchasing decisions.

• Third party endorsements are a big deal.

THREE TYPES OF NEWS RELEASES

• Announcements

•Personnel •Product •Financial• Spot announcements:

Response to problems that you didn’t cause. We have to close school because of snow.

THREE TYPES OF NEWS RELEASES

• Reaction: When an event or situation impacts the organization

•Bad news: Comment, don’t cover up bad news•Local news: Localized news gets covered more often

PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL NEWS RELEASE: STEPTS 1 & 2

1.Letterhead: Print the first page on organization letterhead

2.Contacts: Make sure to add PR contact information

PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL STEP 3

3. Headline

•Factual•Active present tense •Devoid of hype•Most important information first

PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL NEWS RELEASE: STEP 4

4. Dateline

•City of origin•Date•Is this for immediate release or “embargoed”?

PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL NEWS RELEASE: STEP 5 5. Lead

•Most important paragraph. It lays the foundation, draws in the reader and sells the story.•Summary Lead•Most important item first.•Think about your commitment statement.•Think about why a viewer or gatekeeper would care.

PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL NEWS RELEASE: STEP 6

Inverted Pyramid Diamond

PARTS OF A TRADITIONAL NEWS RELEASE: STEP 7

7. Boilerplate/Tag: A brief paragraph explaining who the organization is and what it’s all about.

•Include a short, clear description. •You can work off a company’s mission statement. Don’t use if verbatim.•If you win awards, let people know.•Let people know where they can learn more and continue the conversation.

WHAT ABOUT QUOTES?

• Use them.

• Quotes should have adjectives and emotion.

• Know the process of quote approval.

Things that are traditional but are good• Tagged photos.

• Tagged video, ideally through your YouTube channel.

• Suggested tweets and Facebook posts.

• Suggested Instagram or Pinterest messaging .

• Ideally, a reporter shouldn’t have to lift a finger to create content from your news release.