Media Relations: 10 Reasons I Ignored This News Release

[singlepic id=48 w=320 h=240 mode=web20 float=center]

When I was reporting, a communications firm emailed me a news release about an education expert available for comment. A combination of the following reasons led me to ignore the news release:

1. The news release placed contact information at the very top. Place contact information at the bottom. Your lead, the first few sentences you hope grab the reporter’s attention, takes priority. Contact information at the top reinforces the feel of a news release, which is what you don’t want. Your email signature should offer sufficient contact information.
2. The news release included a headline. You don’t need a headline. A news release is not a news story. Your email subject serves as a sufficient headline.
3. The news release included the dateline, “New York — August 30, 2010 —.” You don’t need a dateline. Again, this is not a news story.
4. The news release explained, “… is available for comment on the following topics.” If you’re sending an email about an expert, reporters already understand someone is available for comment.
5. The news release listed five topics the expert could speak about to reporters. Pick one topic you’re most passionate about or one that is most timely. Don’t throw darts hoping one of many topics sticks.
6. The news release included a section, “Who, what, when.” This section simply repeated previously mentioned information in the release. This section is unnecessary.
7. The news release ended with “###.” You don’t need to include this to indicate the news release is over.
8. The news release sent from New York did not give reporters a reason why they should interview an out of town expert. Reporters interested in the topics could likely find local education experts. Either persuade reporters to interview someone out of town or offer a local representative.
9. The news release did not offer a local parent to interview about the education topics. Personalize news releases. Share stories of real people.
10. The news release raises this question: Wouldn’t building relationships with reporters work better than sending out news releases somewhat randomly?