The humble old media release, huh? Where to start with this little piece of literature that is the tool of most public relations practitioners and the bane and/or saviour of many in the media. The role of the release is as many and multifarious as the products / issues / services / organisations that are covered on the printed page or two.
It can act as a clear statement on a company’s position, it can be a new product announcement, the results of an international study, a resignation, an admission of responsibility or a declaration of innocence.
Before we get too fanciful, perhaps we should just look at a ‘basic’ media release and its general role.
First things first. Not everything a company does, announces, wants to sell or wants to do, warrants a media release. The ever-increasing tide of releases on anything and everything that washes across journalists’ desks has done enormous damage to the reputation of PR practitioners. Do not alienate journalists by bombarding them with useless information and non-newsworthy drivel. You will soon get a reputation for sending in nothing but glorified junk mail and when you finally have something to say it will probably go the way of your other missives – into the delete folder.
If you build a reputation for only issuing a media release when you have something ‘newsworthy’ to say, it will add to your credibility and your chances of being noticed.
In most cases, the release acts as an entree to a journalist, editor or producer. It is the piece of collateral that sums up what you are trying to say; written in such a way that piques a journalist’s attention and so is neither ignored nor deleted.
This means a couple of things – the headline must be catchy, it must be something that grabs the attention yet retains the core truth of the body of the release.
We maintain that a media release should be written the same as a piece of journalism – all punch (and your key point) up front and the exposition thereafter. If you are sending an unsolicited release it must grab the attention of the reader at first glance or it will be hard work and often futile from then on.
Once you have grabbed the attention of the journalist in question you must then provide them with information that allows them to see the potential for a story. Strong quotes, statistics and ‘the implications’ of your key point all add to the likelihood of achieving coverage.
Availability and seniority of spokespeople is also key, as are case studies and visual examples of what you are talking about. Journalists won’t be interested in speaking to a brand manager but give them one of the country’s leading researchers in their field and you have improved your chances significantly.
However, just sending out a media release and hoping it lands on the right desk, at the right time and catches a journalist’s interest is just a waste of time.
More often than not the release acts as the rationale (or even excuse) to make person-to-person contact with a media representative. This contact provides the opportunity to draw the journalist’s attention to your media release, after first making sure they have received it (not ignored it, deleted it or binned it), establishes that you are speaking to the right person and allows you to gauge their level of interest.
More often than not it comes down to how you are able to engage with a journo, ‘sell-in’ your information or story idea and offer the ‘extras’ (case studies, human interest angle, photo opportunity, etc) that will get your story ‘over the line’. The ‘sell-in’ will be the subject for another article in the near future.
A list of key points when it comes to media releases:
- Only send a media release when you have something ‘newsworthy’ to say
- Make sure you send it to the right journalist / producer
- Keep things clearly and tightly written with minimal waffle
- Use a catchy headline, with newsworthy content up front, and explanation later
- Provide people the journalist will want to talk to, not necessarily company spokespeople
- Look at the ‘extras’ that will make your story more appealing – human interest, case studies, photo opportunities, etc
- Proof read your materials before sending to the journalist, then proof and proof again
- Make sure the release is dated and contact details are clear, including out of hours telephone numbers
- Use the media release as an excuse to make contact with a journalist and talk through your story idea
- Oh, and proof again.
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