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.
The product is called a news or press release because back before the internet the news release was one of the few mechanisms to get your story published in a local newspaper or on the evening news. The goal of the product was to provide media enough information to want to publish a story.
Today the news release remains that formal product intended to stimulate news outlets to cover the story, only now organizations can publish the release to their webpage (acting as a “source of truth”) and use snippets of the content on social media to drive audiences to the content.
General template is below for copy and pasting. Or you can download the Microsoft Word version (should be compatible with Google Docs) via the link below.
Template
Download template
Download a Google Docs-friendly (tested, but not optimized, for) Microsoft Word Doc guided Press Release / News Release Template.
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 important “who”, “what”, “when”, and “where”.
Bridge paragraph – 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.]”
[Add Quote credit using following template: First name Last name, Title, Organization]
“[The second quote – 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.]”
[Jonathan Brandahan, Sole Proprietor, Some Organization]
Quick Facts
- [This section provides facts related to the release – things like budget, benefits or key impacts, launch dates or more.]
- [Thinks about the “shareability” of the facts – write them as if someone might grab to share on a social media platform.]
- [Keep section as a bulleted list – if copying and pasting into your email or word processor you may need to reform.]
- This section is not mandatory, but highly recommended.]
Related Products
- [This section is optional, if no related products are associated with this release then remove the section. Keep section as a bulleted list – if copying and pasting into your email or word processor you may need to reform. Use the examples below as a guide. ]
- [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. Keep section as a bulleted list – if copying and pasting into your email or word processor you may need to reform.]
- [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 (dots per inch).]
Caption: [30-word, lead-style caption to accompany photo.]
Credit: [who took the photo and year.]