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HOW TO WRITE A PRESS RELEASE THAT WILL GET YOU COVERAGE

Being able to utilize the media effectively is a valuable skill that will dramatically increase your organization’s ability to build a grassroots movement and effect change. “Free” or “earned” media, terms used to represent press coverage that comes as the result of a press conference or press release, provide organizations with small budgets and little in the way of advertising budgets to get their message out to large groups of people for little or no cost. The following sheet is designed to allow you to maximize your use of the media in your efforts to build your CMHP team.

How to Write a Press Release

Reporters receive many more press releases than they have time or space to cover, so it is important to make sure that yours stands out in the crowd. Here are some tips to make sure your press release gets their attention.

1. We all read the paper on a regular basis, and we know what the average news story reads like. Utilize this knowledge when writing your release, make it read like a newspaper article, not like a sales piece.
   
2. When writing your release, be sure to focus on the facts, the proverbial “Who, what, when, where, why”.
   
3. Make it flashy. A reporters #1 job is to sell newspapers. If they have two stories and need to choose one, they will choose the one with more flash. A good headline and some good, catchy quotes will improve your chances of getting your story published tremendously.
   
4. While you should have flash, it is important to keep the news portion of the story focused on news. Do not editorialize. Leave out lines like “This is an exciting program” unless it is in a quote.
   
5. Do as much of the reporters job for them as you can. Reporters are busy people, working on a deadline. If you give them a piece that they can pretty much turn around and put in the paper with minimal work on their part, they will appreciate it.
   
6. Reporters get tons of faxes and e-mails each day, highlight somewhere at the top, in big letters, that this is a ***PRESS RELEASE***.
   
7. For examples of press releases MHANYS has written, check out our website, they are available at: http://www.mhanys.org/press/index.htm

Things to Keep in Mind When Holding a Press Conference

Sometimes, a press release is not enough. Many times, you want to issue a press release at a news conference, which allows reporters an interactive setting in which to hear your story and ask questions in response. It also will often convey a level of importance that a press release alone can not. Here are some things to keep in mind while planning a press conference.