Press releases are often produced by the press relations department of the organization, professional publicists or commercial third-party press release distribution services. They are tasked to attract media attention to their client and provide publicity for products or events provided by their clients. These press releases reach the media via fax, mail or email. Media contacts may include editors at newspapers, magazines, television stations and networks. Press releases often follow a structure of elements with their documents to help journalists who receive them. These elements are often present in most press releases and here are some tips on how to write news releases:

Headline – This is used to grab the attention of journalists. Briefly summarize the news to fit in a phrase or a sentence but don’t forget to keep it short, clear and straight to the point while using keywords and the company name. This part of the press release is often written in larger characters compared to the rest of the document to make sure it grabs the attention of the journalist who will read it. Omit articles like “a” and “the” as well as “to be” forms of verbs. Headlines are preferred to be written in present tense.

Dateline – This is an important element in the press release. Along with the release date, the place of origin is also indicated, usually the name of the city where the document is published.

Introduction – This is the first paragraph in a press release so make it catchy and informative. Starting strong will get the journalist reading along. Usually, the 5 Ws of journalism are mentioned in this paragraph: What, When, Where, Who and Why.

Body – Additional paragraphs hold further explanation, statistics, quotes, background, or other details relevant to the news. You might also want to include some history if the news demands it for the reader to have a clearer understanding of the news being presented. As much as possible, use facts and eliminate opinion, repetition, jargon and fancy or street language. Be as professional sounding as possible. Everything here should support the first paragraph and nothing more.

Boilerplate – This is a short section devoted to information pertaining to the individual or organization or the press release service provider and their client.

### - This signals the end of the release and usually appears centered directly underneath the last line of the press release. This is a journalism standard.

Media contact information – This contains the company name and the contact information of the press relations officer or other person the media should contact for interviews or with questions. The contact information usually contains the name, phone number, email address, mailing address, website and the time availability. This is so the journalists know who to contact if they wish to contact the entity who issued the press release.

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Find a way to get your web site URL in the story. Do not assume that they will automatically put it in. When you work with the producer, editor or reporter, ask them to include your web site in the story and (here is the important part) give them a reason to do so. After all, the media are not in business to promote you, they are there to serve their audiences.

Make it worthwhile for them to include your web site in the story by having a useful resource at the site. It might be a directory, a how-to video, tips, an ebook, or anything that could be helpful. It is best if the resource is free. For example, I got my web site mentioned in a New York Times article because I offer a free online course on mystery shopping.

Offering a resource also gives the audience a reason to come to your web site. It is your call to action. You may get hundreds or even thousands of people checking out your site after seeing your story.

Here is where the long-term benefit comes in: Getting your web site URL in the story means that when they put the story online (as they almost always do) you will get a link from their site to yours. There are links to my web site from many media sites, including CNN, the New York Times and several local television and radio stations, as well as local newspapers. My web logs show that those sites send visitors to my site, in many cases years after the original story ran.

Not only do I still get new visitors to my web site years after a media appearance, do you think there is search engine value in having links from sites such as CNN.com? You betcha! Having links from authority sites can help your site’s standings in the search engine results, bringing you even more visitors.

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