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[DEALING WITH THE MEDIA: see also How a Local Newspaper Can Get the Membership Involved, by Mary Baird]

WRITING PRESS RELEASES
by Andy Zipser
[Click here for a sample union press release.]

“Writing press releases”—is that a phrase that instills terror? Or makes you recall “what I did on my summer vacation” grade-school essays?

Not to worry. A press release is no more than a short, factual presentation of information you hope will trigger a reporter’s interest. It’s not high art, it doesn’t have to mention every possible fact, and it most definitely won’t be graded—indeed, more often than not it will end up in the circular file. Then again, among some smaller papers it may appear nearly verbatim as a news story. So write it that way—as if you were the reporter telling the story.

Start by putting the date at the top, to prevent any confusion if your release resurfaces three weeks from now amid the piles of paper heaped on most reporters’ desks. On the next line, put contact information: your name, phone number, e-mail address. If possible, provide a similar listing for a second person in case you’re not available.

Follow with a short headline that summarizes the news value of what will follow. Avoid adverbs and most adjectives—just stick to the familiar noun-verb-noun format:

Carpenters’ union votes to strike
Trucking firm hires strikebreakers
Health care tops union agenda

Then on to the text.

Use a simple font, like Times or Times New Roman, in 10- or 12-point type. Double space. Don’t use bold face except, perhaps, in the headline or contact information; use italics sparingly or not at all, and never underline or write words ALL IN CAPS to gain attention. The importance of what you have to say should be evident in the order of presentation, not by beating the reader over the head with font choices that scream for attention. Most reporters will resist such techniques, making them counterproductive.

If there’s a possibility of confusion about the location of your news, begin with a “dateline”—which, despite its name, is not a date but a place name. Put this all in caps—NEW YORK—followed by a dash, then start writing your text. In most cases, your first paragraph should include the “five W’s”: who, what, where, when, and sometimes why. Your opening statement should also get across why this item is newsworthy. For example, the following initial sentence emphasizes a dramatic event:

“Three hundred participants at a November 6 lunch-time rally in front of Acme Tool & Die took an unplanned 10-minute detour onto the factory floor, slipping through an unlocked door and marching through the plant as shocked managers stared and unionized workers applauded and cheered.”

In the following example, the story’s importance is signaled by mentioning how long this labor conflict has been going on:

“Marking a possible end to nearly four years of battling with Acme management, the executive committee of the Widgetmakers Union has voted to submit a tentative contract agreement for a membership vote.”

Most of your press releases will be more like the second example, in the sense that you’ll be informing the media of something they otherwise wouldn’t know, usually a decision, statement, or upcoming event for which your organization is responsible. But don’t overlook the potential public relations value of a “big event” that the media might have missed, such as the routine rally at Acme Tool & Die that morphed into an unplanned factory invasion.

After your opening paragraph, continue to provide details in descending order of importance. This is called the “inverted pyramid” style of news writing. Don’t assume the reporter reading your release knows anything about your organization or its issues. Give the full name of all organizations on first reference (National Labor Relations Board), using acronyms only thereafter (NLRB). As you approach the end of the release, identify the main players with a sentence or two that might seem painfully obvious to you, but which may provide vital information to the journalist encountering your organization for the first time: “The AFL-CIO, a federation of over 50 U.S. unions, is devoted largely to political lobbying and public education about organized labor and working people.”

Keep your sentences short. Avoid language that might be seen as inflammatory, because it makes your message seem untrustworthy (say “strikebreakers,” not “scabs”). Nothing will turn off a reporter faster than rhetoric. Keep your press release to no more than two pages (eight or ten paragraphs)—and no fair pushing the envelope by using tiny type, narrow margins, or single-spacing. Prune remorselessly until you’re left with just the essence of your message.

Should your press release quote union or other officials? There’s no hard-and-fast rule, other than the one used by reporters when writing their stories: Does this quote advance the story in any way? Does it say anything meaningful? Too many quotes are thrown into press releases just to stroke a union leader’s ego, but if they interfere with a reporter’s rapid comprehension they’re counterproductive. And if they’re too obviously meant to puff up a union leader’s image—most reporters have pretty good antenna in this department—the entire release may get tossed into the trash as self-serving propaganda. Far better simply to provide that union leader’s name and contact information in the press release and let reporters seek him or her out for a live—and personalized—comment.

Finally, don’t get too gung-ho churning out press releases. Reporters cope with a flood of mailed press releases, faxes, and e-mails every day. You don’t want yours to be chucked as soon as a reporter sees the sender’s name. Send releases when you have something truly newsworthy to convey, not just to keep your name in front of the media. If your brother-in-law would yawn in your face midway through the second paragraph, the reporter or editor reading your release will have tuned out three sentences earlier.

[Andy Zipser is editor of The Guild Reporter, the newspaper of The Newspaper Guild-CWA. He has worked for community weeklies, the “alternative” press (New Times, in Phoenix), the Wall Street Journal, and Barron's. He is a vice-president of the International Labor Communications Association.]

[Click here for a sample union press release.]