Walking down errors to learn how to write a proper media release

Hello People,

As the title itself is telling you  I am pretty sure this was even your experience to learn  about media releases. 

Today the topic of my blog discusses about media releases which I am sure that since the first module during our Public Relations course we have been learning or at least heard about the usage of media releases and how it is an important tool for Public Relation Practitioners.

During my internship at Marcom Co ltd, I have got the chance to deal with a lot of media releases whether it is in English or French, with different contents, with different styles and with different approaches to write the media release.

In general, what I have learned from my experience is that Communication and Marketing department work closely for example during the launch of the new Iframac showroom for cars at Phoenix Les Halles shopping center, the Marketing department came with the idea that they will go for promotional sales on the various cars and at the same time the Communication department decided to issue a media release to announce the sales and the various prices being offered.

Overall, a media release can be said as being newsworthy when it contains timeliness (how recent the event is), proximity (how close to home the event is), when it is directly important to a lot of people, when it solves a problem, when it is new, the shock value is present (when one or more aspects of a story are shocking) and so on. 

For the example mention above of Iframac when writing such media releases it is important to state the figures or prices of the cars being sold at which price because during my internship I have learned that figures do trigger people’s attention.

Another aspect media releases which I have learned while working on several media releases for Apollo Bramwell hospital is that when writing the title or the first paragraph itself always include where possible the human factor which can generate human interest (when there is an emotional element to the subject).

For example, one topic for one of my media releases discusses about how a specific surgery only available at Apollo Bramwell hospital helped to save a man from kidney cancer therefore while writing and from the feedbacks I got I was advised to start with the human aspect for this type of media release stating in the title and first paragraph itself that this man was saved due to this surgery as this helps to attract audience attention when it concerns lives of people.

Moreover, media releases should also consist of shock value (when one or more aspects of a story are shocking), the numbers of people involved or affected (would it change the lives of the audience) and so on.

To resume what I have learned about media releases during my internship is the lead paragraph is the most important and it should provide a ‘hook’ for the journalist and provide answers to the main questions like who, what, where, why and how, write in the inverted pyramid style that is the most important information at the top then proceed with other paragraphs which contains less important facts so as the editor can trim the release from the bottom without losing the main information, use catchy headlines, try to keep the media release to one page having short paragraphs that are to the point and most essential of all to ensure credibility of the news always include one quote at least or go the extent of three quotes if needed.

Within Marcom Co Ltd to know every day how much presence their media releases information got, they go for media clipping by reviewing numbers of newspapers or magazines as an evaluation method.

Here are some links where you can get additional information:

Ø  http://www.pria.com.au/priablog/5-seo-tips-to-optimise-press-releases-for-online-consumption (sourced from Public Relations Institute of Australia).

Ø  http://www.pria.com.au/priablog/5-tips-to-follow-when-writing-press-releases

Ø  http://publicrelationssydney.com.au/index.php/tips-for-writing-a-great-media-release/

Till then friends continue posting bye bye bye.