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What are the key components of a good Press Release?

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Posted by Your Guide on October 31, 2005 6:48 PM

A press release should be written to make the job of the reporter or editor easier. Therefore, it should contain all the information they would be looking for to include in a news article.


  • The Five W’s: It may sounds old-fashioned, but reporters still do focus on the five W’s as the crux of news stories, particularly when they involve events. Be sure your press release includes information about who, what, where, why, and when.
  • Inverted pyramid style: This is the style that reporters use for their news stories, and you should use it for your press releases, too. The inverted pyramid style presents the most newsworthy information first, followed by less crucial details. This technique requires organizing your material in descending order of newsworthiness and importance, and then writing your press release in the same order. (This style gets its name from an inverted pyramid, which is big at the top and gets smaller and smaller toward the bottom.) Reporters use this trick to catch the attention of busy readers quickly with the most important information first, and you should use it for the same reason. If a reporter only reads the first sentence of your press release, you want them to get the most crucial information first.
  • Quotations: Just as a newspaper story uses quotations from key individuals, so should your press release. Use quotations as a way to convey the human interest element of a story.
  • Contact information: A press release should include the name and phone number of at least one, and possibly two, contact people. This is the person who will field phone calls and requests from reporters. He or she must be readily available to reporters and must respond quickly to their requests for interviews and more information.



Next Page: How do I format and send a Press Release?

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