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Stop Writing Press Releases. Start Writing News
Releases
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Recommending that you stop
writing press releases and start writing news releases is not a play on
words. It is sound advice.
In common parlance, “press release” and “news release” mean
the same thing. However, the terminology people use often betrays a
fundamental difference in how they put this information together and how
well it is accepted by the media.
Early in my career, I was editor of a daily newspaper and later a writer
with The Wall Street Journal. One of my jobs was to screen submissions to
decide which ones we would print and which ones we would throw away.
Approximately 80 - 85% of submissions failed the first screening, a
life or death decision usually made within 60 seconds or less. |
On the other hand, the
vast majority of those that survived this first screening also survived
the second one and were ultimately published. What made the difference? Basically, it was in how the author of the
document viewed the material being submitted.
• Losers. Information a company or
organisation wanted to see printed for its own benefit.
•
Winners. Information a company or organisation wanted to see
printed for its own benefit and the benefit of our readers.
In both cases, the submitter had something to gain if we published the
release, i.e. positive publicity. However, in the first case, the focus
was on only how the submitter would benefit from publication. In the
second, it was on both how the submitter and our readers would benefit.
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A Concrete Example If all this sounds a bit theoretical, here is an
example to make it more concrete.
After leaving The Wall Street Journal, I was an account executive with a
major international press relations agency. One of my subordinates
presented me with a typically self-serving press release he wanted to
distribute on behalf of his client.
The headline was something like: Egotistical Industries gains major new
contract. The first paragraph said something like: Tom Bighead today
announced that Egotistical Industries has won a $350,000 contract to
supply window sealants for the new sports centre currently under
construction in Baden-Baden, Germany. Egotistical Industries was founded
in 1989 by Mr. Bighead and his brother George, and is now considered to be
the leading company in its field. Last year the company’s sales were . . .
.” |
In the fifth paragraph, if anyone would read that far, we learned that the
sealant the company would supply had the property of not freezing in cold
weather, so work on the sports centre could be carried out in December,
rather than waiting for warmer weather in March or April.
This of course was the true story. If you are a reader of a professional
construction magazine, you couldn’t care less that Egotistical Industries
has a new contract. By contrast, you could be vitally interested in
knowing that you could possibly gain three months on your construction
schedule by using Egotistical’s product.
More importantly, editors of professional construction magazines would
view the release this way.
Remember: Editors are vitally concerned about what their readers
want to read, because if they lose readership, they lose their jobs. The
real target of your release must be the editors. They are the gatekeepers.
If they value the release, it gets published; if they don’t, it doesn’t.
We therefore rewrote the information into a news release with the
headline: Windows in Baden-Baden Sports Centre will be sealed in the
dead of winter, saving the contractor approximately $30,000 in labour
costs. The first paragraph, and as many additional paragraphs as
necessary, elaborated on this very attractive theme. The background
information about the company came at the end of the release where it
justifiably belonged.
The Short Road to Nowhere
Here’s another example. As a marketing communication consultant, I was
asked by a client to write a release announcing an important new service.
I was told to limit the release to 400 words. “Why 400 words?” I asked.
“Well, it’s our policy to keep our releases short. Journalists like that.”
The problem was, I couldn’t find a way of saying everything that needed to
be said in only 400 words. The client was insistent. I finally produced
something at 400 words which the client felt was exactly what was wanted.
But when the release was issued, no one published it.
The client called a few newspapers and magazines to find out why. The
answer was, they just didn’t see anything that would be of interest to
their readers. I then called a couple of these newspapers and magazines
and asked, “Do you think you readers would be interested in X.” “Yes, why
didn’t you put that in the release?”
Well, I had. But under the stricture of the 400-word limit, it had become
so severely condensed as to be cryptic. It was there—if you knew what to
look for. The function of an effective release is to give information, not
challenge journalists to find it.
I rewrote the release. This time it came out to 650 words and was
widely published. Why? Because it had been transformed from a press
release, i.e. what the client wanted to say, into a news release—what
journalists believed their readers wanted and needed to know.
Each time you start tapping at the keyboard, keep uppermost in mind the
aspects that make a release a “news release”.
• First, a release gets published only if editors feel that it offers
something their readers want and need to know. So make certain that it
does.
• Second, there is no
“correct” length for a news release. To paraphrase a sexist joke (I
apologise, but it is just too pertinent), a news release should be like a
miniskirt: short enough to be interesting, and long enough to cover the
subject.
Editor’s Note Philip Yaffe is a former
reporter/feature writer with The Wall Street Journal and a marketing
communication consultant. He currently teaches a course in good writing
and good speaking in Brussels, Belgium. In the “I” of the Storm: the
Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like A professional, his
recently published book, is available from Story Publishers in Ghent,
Belgium (storypublishers.be) and Amazon (amazon.com)
For further information, contact:
Philip Yaffe
61, avenue des Noisetiers, B-1170 Brussels, Belgium
Tel : 32 (0)2 330 0405
phil.yaffe@yahoo.com
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