Tips From Our Experts

Write news releases journalists want to read

Writing a news release if you haven’t done it before can sometimes be difficult. But when it comes down to it, it really is quite simple. The language should be clear, straight, easy to comprehend and to the point.

Your news release will provide journalists with the necessary information and form the basis for the news article the journalist will later write. In other words, a news release should make the daily work of a journalist easier.

When it’s time to start writing a news release, it’s important to first plan out your content and formulate what you want to say; then you put it together, writing clearly and concisely. Try to include pictures, documents and even online videos that might interest journalists. Once you’re done, all you have to do is click the button and distribute it with Mynewsdesk (or another PR service).

11 Tips on how to write a news release journalists want to read:

1. Help a journalist with the right facts. Releases are often used as source material for journalists and often form the basis of a news piece. It’s therefore important to answer the most frequently asked questions journalists have: who, what, when, how, where and why?
2. Is the release newsworthy? The media want to read news releases that is newsworthy. Each piece of news is unique, current, and concerns different issues. Read more about how you find the news in your organization.
3. Informative headlines without superlatives. If your news release has an interesting headline you significantly increase the chances of a journalist reading your release. That’s why it’s so important to spend time getting your headline just right. This is also important in terms of search engine optimization as search engines pay particular attention to headlines. Remember to use a journalistic tone and avoid superlatives.
4. The preamble should be a summary. The news release’s preamble should summarize the news – preferably in one sentence. The preamble is vital as it’s also used (at least by Mynewsdesk) as the description for search engines (max. 160 characters).
5. The most important first. Journalists always write the most important thing first, which can sometimes be a bit difficult for an inexperienced writer. Always start your release with the most important information first and then go onto the details.
6. One piece of news at a time. A news release should contain just one piece of news. If you notice that the text is beginning to refer to other pieces of news, write several news releases and publish them over a couple of days instead. The golden rule is: one topic per news release.
7. Write short and snappy releases. You shouldn’t write more than one page of A4 – preferably half a page. If you need more space, try and divide it up into two news releases. Otherwise it’s very likely your news won’t be published.
8. Use quotes. By including a quotation from a key figure in the company, you make it easy for journalists. If you can’t get a quote make sure you include clear contact information so journalists can get in touch to get quotes.
9. Include links in your news release. Because your news release can be distributed via various online news services or web sites, it can be a good idea to include links back to your website in the news release. Embedded links in your news release also increase your chances of being placed higher up in online search results.
10. Use images and video. Journalists like it when news releases also make good high-resolution images available. Make sure to include these for journalists as well as a web image in the actual release itself. We recommend you have a newsroom with Mynewsdesk where journalists can see your entire image archives and select the pictures they think suit the story best. Remember to write informative descriptions for each picture.
11. Provide clear contact details for the media. The key here is to help journalists as much as possible. Make sure all your contact details (phone number, title, Twitter account (if you have one) and e-mail address are included so journalists can easily reach you if necessary. Also ensure that a contact person is always available should a journalist ring.