If writing press releases is part of your job, then one of the first things to remember is that while your ultimate target audience is news readers, the media as a vehicle for publishing the news is just as important.
The media doesn’t need to and usually doesn’t publish much of what you write in the press release. Gaining media attention or interest in your story should therefore be your first goal, and that will require the story to be notable.
If the story is about a new product or service, then you, as a writer, need to highlight what sets you apart from the rest. If there is nothing worth noting, such as a unique selling point, then it is unlikely that any news will be published. Journalists always look only for what is newsworthy.
One of the biggest mistakes product or service providers make is that press releases contain too much technical detail or overemphasize numerous features or functionality. If there is nothing different or outstanding among the many things mentioned, then there is not much that attracts or attracts the attention of journalists to write about it.
Vendors often think that the information in the press release is what end users want to read, but often those details are not newsworthy for publication. Even if it is published, it will often be placed at the end of the story. The information or text placed at the end of the news, depending on the space available in the newspaper or other media, can be lifted by the editor or doorman to make way for other more prominent news.
When writing a press release, therefore, a good approach is to use the ‘reverse pyramid’ methodology, where the most important is placed at the top and the least important is placed at the bottom. The first paragraph, as an introduction to the press release, should summarize the key points of the entire story to answer at least three of the five ‘W’s and one ‘H’ (5W+1H): who, when, why, what , Where and how.
Within the press release, at least one or two quotes from a spokesperson should be included as standard practice. This is because journalists generally prefer someone to say something within the story to eliminate the monotony. This is especially true for a backstory.
In short, it means that when writing press releases, always remember that the media plays a very important role in what is published, therefore the content must be newsworthy.