Press Release Distribution

Distributing information through press releases has a long history.

The origins are disputed but probably go back to at least the 19th century USA.

Originally used as a way of trying to control and manipulate the release of bad news about a company or situation under the auspices of ‘damage limitation’, today they are more commonly associated with pro-active positive communications.

Widely used by PR firms, there is ongoing controversy and much cynicism over the nature of many press releases. They and their distributors are often accused of trying to pass off puerile advertisements, self-aggrandizement and ‘positive spin’ that nobody is interested in as, in fact, genuine wide-interest press releases.

This may be unfair as many reputable organizations actually use press releases in a sincere capacity to communicate openly and objectively the situation within their field or organization etc. Trying to achieve a degree of positive publicity in the process is part of the art form called writing a good press release!

Formats

Over time a de-facto standard has arisen around the content and format of a press release. This is not always followed but if a press release is to stand any chance of being noticed then it has to be recognizable as a press release.

The typical format is a short sharp piece of text where the emphasis should be on economical language and maximum impact.

As a general rule, the longer a press release appears at a first glance then the less chance it may have of ever being read or syndicated.

Ideally, it should contain a structure along the lines of:

Confirmation of the release date (e.g. “immediate” or “embargoed until”)
A one line big-impact headline
The date and location of the construction of the release
The body text with information delivered in an inverted pyramidal structure (see below)
The boilerplate (details about the company or individual making the announcement)
Background notes
Either “ENDS” or “####” to signify the end of the press release (archaic today but still sometimes useful to show that there isn’t a page 2 that’s been lost).

Journalistic language – pyramid structures

A general principle of journalistic language when writing press releases or news articles is that information is presented in the form of an inverted pyramid.

In other words, you should concentrate on getting the key impact message and most important ‘hit’ of your text in the first paragraph or two.

Subsequent paragraphs can then contain the information that is perhaps less critical to your objectives, such as background etc.

It’s important to get this right because in reality, very possibly only the first paragraph or two of your press release is likely to ever get read.

Press Release – A Sample

Here is a crude and over-simplified example.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chief Executive of Imaginary Company Co – RESIGNS

New York City, 21st May 2017.

Today Mr Joe Anybody has announced his resignation from the board of the Imaginary Company Co. He will leave his post on 21st June 2017.
Ms Mary Anne Nobody will take over the role of CEO effective 22nd June 2017.
Mr Anybody has cited health reasons for his resignation and said that he leaves both his position and the company, with deep regret.
Ms Nobody has been with the company for 15 years and has extensive executive management experience. She has said that she welcomes the challenge of the CEO role but obviously is saddened by the reason for Mr. Anybody’s departure.

For further information please contact:

Corporate HR and Media Relations Dept

Imaginary Company CO

NYC – Tel. Fax. Email:

Notes:

The Imaginary Company Co is the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of imaginary products. Formed 50 years ago, it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has an annual turnover in excess of $1.5billion US.
Ends

Distribution

At one time press releases were faxed to the main media organizations and distributing organizations often exploited relationships with journalists to ensure that their release was ‘noticed’.

This still continues today to some extent but the position is now more diverse and more complex.

Clearly a press release originating from a household name individual or organization or one that contains major newsworthy information, will very probably get noticed and perhaps syndicated through media channels simply by virtue of its nature.

However, this is unlikely to be the case for the majority of modern press releases and today rather more awareness is required of the subtleties and techniques associated with various channels of distribution including the Internet and SEO.