Chapter 7Press Releases

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Objectives

• Identify the press release audience• Select suitable subjects for press releases• Organize content for a press release• Develop a press release style and format

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Objectives (cont’d.)

• Turn on the Track Changes feature in Word and make changes

• Insert comments in a Word document• Modify the appearance of tracked changes and

comments

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Introduction

• Press releases communicate information to the media– A written announcement that informs publications

and other news media about an important event, product launch, or other newsworthy story

• Also referred to as a media release– News media organizations receiving a press release

are free to use content in a news story

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Press Release Essentials

• A well-written press release that an editor approves and publishes can garner excellent publicity

• If the sole purpose of a press release is to generate publicity, an editor will likely not publish it

• A press release must inform about a newsworthy event and contain information of interest to a broad audience

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Press Releases (cont’d.)

• Identifying the press release audience– Primary audience is the editor of the news media

that receives the press release• Press releases chosen to publish must have a

clear news focus, sufficient details, require little editing, and use a recognized press release format

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Press Releases (cont’d.)

• Identifying the press release audience (cont’d.)– Secondary audience is each person who will read,

watch, or listen to the content– Editor must ensure content will interest the market

served by the media

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Press Releases (cont’d.)

• Selecting suitable subjects for press release– News must be the central focus

• Description of a company’s products is not new• Interview with an inventor about a new product

that will have a positive effect on people’s lives is suitable

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Press Releases (cont’d.)

• Selecting suitable subjects for press release (cont’d.)– A press release is an excellent marketing tool for a

company• Cost almost nothing• Publicity is essentially free• Time invested in writing is time spent well if

published

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Press Releases (cont’d.)

Figure 7-1 Suitable subjects for a press release

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Press Releases (cont’d.)

• Organizing content for a press release– News story structure

• Snappy title• Most important information is in the first two or

three sentences• Include sufficient details• Appeals to target audience interests and needs• Quotations from at least two sources• Provides information people need to respond or

to find additional details, when appropriate

Project 7

Press Releases (cont’d.)

Figure 7-2 Organizing press release content

Project 7

Press Releases (cont’d.)

• Developing a press release style and format– Should conform to a conventional style and format

that editors recognize• Contact information included at the top• City and date at the beginning of paragraph one• Third person used throughout (except quotations)• Quotations punctuated correctly• Use of conventional formatting

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Press Releases (cont’d.)

Figure 7-3 Formatting a press release

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Press Releases (cont’d.)

• Organizing content for a press release (cont’d.)– Figure 7-4:

• Paragraph one uses the 5W format to communicate the most important information

• Quotations are used to provide additional details

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Press Releases (cont’d.)

Figure 7-4 Sample press release

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Technology SkillsUsing Reviewing Features

• Once a press release is written and formatted, it can be adapted

• Track Changes and Comments features on Review tab in Word help keep track of changes– Track changes is a change to text that appears in a

different format or in a balloon to the right of text• Comments can also be inserted

– Contained in a balloon along right side of document

Project 7

• Review features are used when sharing writing duties with a colleague– Each person’s changes are displayed in a different

color

Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

Figure 7-5 Changes to paragraph 1 of the adapted press release

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

Figure 7-6 List of changes required

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)• Comments communicate information about specific

details– May be inserted to remind a colleague to check a

fact or explain a suggested change• Use tools on the Reviewing tab in Word to navigate

from one comment to another comment and delete comments

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

Figure 7-7 New comment

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

• Markups (e.g., insertions and deletions) appear a certain way by default– Tracked changes and comments appearance can

be modified

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

Figure 7-8 Track Changes Options dialog box

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Reviewing Features (cont’d.)

• To finalize a document with tracked changes and comments:– Go through and accept or reject all tracked changes– Delete all comments

Project 7

Reviewing Features (cont’d.)