First things first: there’s no difference between a press release and a news release – they’re names for the same thing: a formal product distributed to journalists for the purpose of generating news stories. Since the internet, most organizations also publish these to the “news” section of their websites and use pieces of it to compliment social media or other promotional content; but the goal of the news release is to generate credible, third-party news (or otherwise) stories about your release (including inviting media to call you about the release).
The basic premise of the news release is “so what” or “bottom line up front” – you start with the most important facts and each paragraph below that one contains less and less critical information. You can download a Microsoft Work template below, or copy and paste the example provided a downloadable version if you’re like me and prefer to draft these things in something like Microsoft Word before distributing.
If you’re looking to publish something less formal or more of a news story, try a news article format.
Template
Download template
Download a Google Workspace-friendly (tested, but not optimized, for) Microsoft Word Doc guided Press Release / News Release Template.
I’ve set this up so you can just copy and paste it into an email or your word processor of choice.
NEWS RELEASE
Headline – one line written in telegraphic speech
Month Dd, Yyyy – City, Prov./State – Organization name
Lead sentence – aim for a max of 30 words – introduce most importanct “who”, “what”, “when”, and “where”.
Bridge paragragh – can be multiple sentences – amplifies lead and presents additional information like “why”, “how”, and “how much/many” – aim for max of 50 words – between lead and bridge your reader should have a high level understanding of your story.
For more information visit youwebsite.com/link-to-detailed-info.
Quotes
“[The quote – quotes in news releases should come from the highest level that owns the news release. This section is typically mandatory for a news release as this would be the organization’s official response.]”
[Quote credit: Liam Mather, Strategic Communications Counsel and Coaching]
“[The quote two – there can be more than one quote; however, additional quotes should be from the next highest person in the chain of the event, or someone of equal billing from the partnering organization on the release.]”
[Quote credit: Jonathan Brandahan, Sole Proprietor, Some Organization]
Quick Facts
- [This section provides facts related to the release. You might need to reformat this as a bulleted list.]
- [This section is perfect for crafting short clips from your news release.]
- [This section is not mandatory, but highly recommended.]
Related Products
- [This section is optional, if no related products are associated with this release please remove. Use the examples below as a guide. You might need to reformat this as a bulleted list.]
- [Example one: Title of product – https://www.the-link-to-that-product.com/
- [Example two: Photo gallery – https://www.the-link-to-that-gallery.com/
Associated Links
- [This section is optional, if no associated links with this release, please remove. Use the example below as a guide. You might need to reformat this as a bulleted list.]
- [Title of link – http://www.the-link-to-that-product.com/]
– 30 –
Media queries
[First name] [Surname]
[Title]
[Organization]
Phone: [XXX-XXX-XXXX]
Email: youremail@yourdomain.ca
Photo
Link to high resolution: [link to photo – something 2 mbs or more should work, but you want something that has minimum 300 dpi.]
Caption: [30-word, lead-style caption to accompany photo.]
Credit: [who took the photo and year.]
Combine this with the how to write for media post and you should be good to go.