What is a press release?

A press release is pseudo-news story, written in third person, that seeks to demonstrate to an editor or reporter the newsworthiness of a particular person, event, service or product.

How is a press release used?

Press releases are often sent alone, by e-mail, fax or snail mail. They can also be part of a full press kit, or may be accompanied by a pitch letter.

What is the proper press release format?

Here's another sample press release template (check top right menu for IAND template) you can use to format your press release correctly: Visit Website

What Makes a Story Newsworthy?

News can be defined as "Newsworthy information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by news media". But what makes news newsworthy?

There is a list of five factors, detailed here, which are considered when deciding if a story is newsworthy. When an editor needs to decide whether to run with a particular story, s/he will ask how well the story meets each of these criteria. Normally, a story should perform well in at least two areas.

Naturally, competition plays a part. If there are a lot of newsworthy stories on a particular day then some stories will be dropped. Although some stories can be delayed until a new slot becomes available, time-sensitive news will often be dropped permanently.

Distributing Your Press Release Using Twitter

Using twitter to distribute your press release is a great way to reach thousands of people. Take the headline of your press release and add details of content that equal the total 140 character limit of twitter, and insert a link for the actual press release in your tweet or a webpage where it is located. See example here.