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237Chapter 15: Public Relations and Publicity

a publicity pro. Instead, notify the media that the news is For Immediate
Release by typing those words above your headline.

ߜ A headline: Your headline should be active (in other words, it should
include a verb), succinct (it should fit on no more than two lines),
and benefit-oriented (it should tell what’s in the news for the media
audience — not what’s in it for you).

ߜ A dateline: The meat of the news release begins with the name of the
city and the abbreviation of the state from which the release originated,
followed by the date the release was issued.

ߜ Clear presentation of the facts: Journalism 101 prevails in news release
writing. Tell who, what, where, when, why, and how (called the five Ws
plus how) in what is known as an inverted pyramid style. Here’s what that
means: Tell your news in the first sentence and pack your most impor-
tant supporting facts into the first few paragraphs. This allows an editor
to chop the entire end portion, if necessary to save space, and still
retain the vital information.

ߜ Quotes: Simple announcements don’t require quotes, but if your news
benefits from meaningful comments from top management or credible
customers or industry leaders, include and clearly identify the sources
for one or two quotes.

ߜ Boilerplate information: End your release with a short paragraph, called
a boilerplate, that summarizes information about your company. This
paragraph should tell your business name, what your business does, a
few points about how your business is unique, a line about your history
(when your business was founded, your ownership, and other key facts),
and a few words about the size and scope of your business. A release
from a fictional private school might end with the following paragraph:

Amazing Preparatory School is a private academy graduating 100 college-
bound students annually. Founded in 1975, the school is located on the
grounds of the historic Smith Estate, where students from throughout the
world live in dormitories or commute from the nearby metropolitan area.
The school is a member of the Private Schools Association and the
International Study Institute.

ߜ No more than two pages: Print your news release on 81⁄2-x-11-inch white
paper. (Advice for electronic news releases follows.) Use wide margins
and one-and-a-half or double-spacing. If your news runs more than one
page, don’t print both sides of the same sheet, as editors frequently tear
off and forward only the first part of the release for production. Type
the word More at the bottom of the page if the release continues on and
start the next page by identifying the release in the top left-hand corner
(for example, Small Business Marketing For Dummies, Page 2). Following
the final sentence of your release, center three pound symbols (# # #) to
indicate that the release has ended.