As a public relations student at the University of Oregon I have had the honor of learning many PR techniques and writing skills from one of the best journalism schools in the country. However, I have found that when writing and distributing press releases I can always use a little help. I recently received an internship for a local photography and production company and I was given the assignment of writing a press release and media advisory for an upcoming event occurring in Portland the following week. My boss wanted the story to be published in The Oregonian and the pitch to be out within a few days. While beginning to learn all the information about the event and writing the press release I was reminded of all the tips I learned throughout my education at the U of O. I also discovered some new tips about the writing and distribution process along the way. I think that these are relevant and helpful tips that every public relations student transferring into the real world should be aware of. Here are ten press release writing tips I find to be helpful:

1. Always make sure the information is newsworthy.
2. Tell the audience that the information is intended for them and why they should read it.
3. Always use the inverted pyramid style; the most important information first and least important information last.
4. Make sure the story is relatable.
5. Make sure the first ten words of the press release are effective and catch the reporter’s attention.
6. Avoid jargon and excess adjectives
7. Give only the facts, no excess information that will not be useful to the reporter.
8. Provide as much contact information as possible including: Contact name, e-mail, address, phone number, fax and website
9. Make sure the release can be made into a complete story.
10. Make it as easy as possible for reporters to do their jobs. Include all the facts necessary, all contact information and quotes from prominent people.

Many of these helpful hints can be found on sites such as www.pressreleasewriting.com

Now that the press release has been written you have to make sure to pitch the story to the right people. A story is more likely to be published if it is pitched to a specific section of the newspaper that it relates to. Because the event that I was trying to get covered was created by a local group of Portland special effects artists I chose to pitch the story to the “Portland” section of the newspaper. I did not automatically know about this section until exploring The Oregonian’s Web site and discovering its newsroom. The newsroom specifically outlined and described each section of the newspaper accompanied with the editor’s name, e-mail and phone number. You can take a look here: http://biz.oregonian.com/newsroom/?sec=47&tert=3.
This helped me specify my target audience so that I was not blindly sending out press releases to reporters who the story did not relate to.
In the public relations industry as interns and professionals press releases are written often. Although not every press release is written the same many of the same techniques should always be used and distributing to the right audience is key.

Happy writing.

– Madeline Willman, Account Executive