The Press Release

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The PressRelease

• A Media Managers Most Basic Tool

By Jason Van Dyke, M.M., Special Assistant
(Administration)
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Are You A Communications person?

• You all are!

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Agenda

• Relationships
• Targeting
• The Press Release
• Formatting / Writing
• Follow-up

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Relationships

• THE single most important aspect of
  communications
• How are relationships built?
• On reputations
• Hard work
• TRUST / Honesty
• Follow-up

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Relationships

• Care and feeding of ones relationships are
  critical to success

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Targeting

• Ultimate goal of the release is to have language
  you use and define used by the reporter in their
  story
• RealityMost releases are not read
• How to catch attention and reach the goal?
• Targeting

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Targeting

• Two step process
• Know your audience
• Anticipate and meet their needs

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Knowing Your Audience

• Generally 2 audiences for a release
• The reporter
• The end readers
• Each is different, but must be addressed
  simultaneously

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Who Is The Reporter?

• Professional
• Standards and norms they must conform to
• Gatekeeper
• They, along with the Editor, decide what is news

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Who Is The Reporter?

• Public good
• See themselves as serving their readers
• Provide a Product
• Must provide a productpeople WANT

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Who is the Reader?

• The average citizen
• Best to imagine some just like you
• Looking for information AND entertainment
• They want hard news, but in a form that is
  interesting ,compelling, and relevant

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Who is the Reader?

• Pressed for time
• Busy lives and lots of competing information
• Dont assume they know anything, but NEVER lie or
  stretch the truth

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Audience Needs

• The Reporter
• Good story
• News values
• Impact Current interest
• Timeliness Conflict
• Prominence Proximity
• Novelty

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Audience Needs

• The Reader
• The five Ws
• Who When
• What Why
• Where How
• Conditioned to accept the News Values as valid

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The Press Release

• Basic tool
• Fixed format
• Looks and reads like a news story
• Gives information in briefest space
• Easy to read and understand
• When used correctly very effective

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Press Release Format

• Who is sending the message / contact information
• The words For Immediate Release and the date
• A headline or title

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Press Release Format

• A lead (leade) that encapsulates the entire story
  in the first sentence
• Background information in the last paragraph
• Some sort of symbol indicating the end ( or
  -end-)

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Example A
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Valley Example
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House of the Temple Design
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AP Style

• How all news is written
• AP Style Guide
• Active Voice
• Inverted pyramid
• Lead(e) Sentence
• Quotes are important
• NO PUFFERY

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Pictures

• Action pictures
• People pictures
• Avoid clichés
• Include attribution / credit

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Send It!
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Follow-up

• Do you already have a relationship?
• Good time to start one
• Also includes watching the news, getting the
  paper, or checking online to check your coverage
• Assess success / failure

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Lets try it!!!

• Facts
• Election of Officers
• Event happened yesterday
• Picture will be included

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Example 2

• Facts
• Event RiteCare Clinic Opening
• Next week at 300 pm
• Mayor will be there
• Food will be served to the public
• Free testing for children
• Ribbon will be cut by local news anchor who was
  treated forstuttering

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The PressRelease

• A Media Managers Most Basic Tool

By Jason Van Dyke, M.M., Special Assistant
(Administration)