FlackList Blog

Press releases are as old as the PR profession but that doesn’t mean they have to be boring or not useful.

If you are new to PR or have no experience in the field, you may be wondering, “What is the point of a press release and why is it called a press release?”

Press releases are primarily treated by reporters as a backgrounder for important news announcements. They provide provide media with the cold, hard facts of an announcement, parties involved, verbiage of how the company likes to be described, who to contact, etc. Thus, they are releases for the press.

There are other terms used for a press release but a new one to arrive on the scene is the social news release (SNR) which is a basically a press release with social sharing capabilities. It’s also a little different than a press release because rather than just being media facing, it’s also written for audience of choice so that they may be inclined to share the news via Twitter, linkedIn and/or Facebook.

Before writing your release, ask yourself is this information newsworthy and be honest in your response.What makes something newsworthy? If you hesitate on this question then most likely your “news” isn’t worthy of a release. If you consider the announcement to be a company milestone or can honestly say that an audience whether consumer or b2b would want to know about it then take the time to write a press release.

Now that you have determined whether your news warrants a release, it’s time to put one together.

There is one secret to writing a great press release: simplicity. Sure it’s fun to be clever and do a play on words but don’t go overboard and add a bunch of fluff. Reporters have limited time to read your news and they will toss it aside if they can’t digest the premise within the first couple of sentences.

Generally speaking a press release contains the following:

Headline:This summarizes your news and tells them what you are announcing. Try to keep it to seven words or less.

Sub-head:This elaborates on the news shared in the headline, calling out why the announcement is newsworthy.

Date/City of Origination:Include the date of the news announcement as well as where the news is originating from.

Intro paragraph:Again, summarize the news here as well as elaborate a little further on details not yet mentioned.

Background info paragraphs: These graphs share all information pertinent to the announcement. Include all details a reporter might want to know. Don’t over share though.

Quote(s):Most releases contain quotes from the CEO or executive leading the charge as well as any partners involved. These aren’t generally used by media but it does help with SEO around the executive and provides an option to media who don’t have time for an interview.

Boilerplate:This is a general summarization of your company or organization. These are usually listed at the bottom of the press release.

Media Contact:Always include the name, email and phone number of someone the press can contact.

Images/Video:Visuals always make news more enticing.

Hyperlinks:Include links back to important web sites to search optimize your company’s website and news.

Social Media Pitch:This is specific to SNRs. Make your pitch clever and short so that others will be inclined to open the link or want to share it with others.

Bottom line: Short and to the point is always easy on the eyes and mind.

That’s about it for the basics. Good luck! 

This past week I’ve needed a little refresher in tricky grammatical issues so thought you all might need a reminder too. Here a few of my favorite “high patrol” situations. 

AFFECT VS. EFFECT (Writer’s Block)

"Affect" is usually a verb meaning "to influence". The drug did not affect the disease.

 "Effect" is usually a noun meaning "result". The drug has many adverse side effects.

 "Effect" can also be used as a verb meaning "to bring about". The present government effected many positive changes.

 IN TO VS. INTO (The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation)

One of the main uses of the preposition into is to indicate movement toward the inside of a place.

The children jumped into the lake for a swim. Mom drove the car into the garage.

 In to is the adverb in followed by the preposition to.

He turned his paper in to the teacher. The administrators wouldn’t give in to the demands of the protesters.

We will explore into vs. in to in more depth in a future blog.

I.E. VS. E.G. (About.com)

"i.e." stands simply for "that is," which written out fully in Latin is 'id est'. "I.e." is used in place of "in other words," or "it/that is." It specifies or makes more clear. Use "i.e." to paraphrase.

"E.g." means "for example" and comes from the Latin expression exempli gratia, "for the sake of an example," with the noun exemplum in the genitive (possessive case) to go with gratia in the ablative(prepositional case). "E.g." is used in expressions similar to "including," when you are not intending to list everything that is being discussed.

Pop Quiz

1. Rheumatic fever can affect/effect the heart
2. He said he was greatly worried, or words to that affect/effect.
3. I’m going to turn the wallet I found into/in to the police.
4. If your battery is running low, you’ll need to plug your power cord into/in to the socket.
5. The elephant is a pachyderm, i.e./e.g., an animal with thick skin and nails resembling hooves.
6. Buy some vegetables, i.e./e.g., carrots.

Answers

1. Affect
2. Effect
3. in to
4. into
5. i.e.
6. e.g.

How many did you get right?

AP held its February Twitter chat (#APStyleChat) today covering questions on entertainment. Here are some interesting tidbits shared. Quite baffling, huh?!

• We don't use quotes for the James Bond films but do for the "Star Wars" series.
  

• Movie, video game and book titles are compositions and take quotes. Character names do not.
  

• We capitalize the first letter of a company name or product if it begins a sentence: IPod, EBay. (They have changed their tune from our tech update!)
  

• Actor vs. actress. It's actress for Oscars, but actor for Screen Actors Guild.
  

• In Stylebook Online's pronunciation guide: Ricky Gervais jer-VAYS', Beyonce bee-AHN'-say and Kanye West KAHN'yay.
  

• AP recently added onstage (one word) to Stylebook.

Given the interest in AP Style related to technology, I sat in on the AP Style Book’s monthly Twitter chat on Jan. 20 that focused on technology. They shared a few additional tidbits to what I covered in my previous blog that I thought you all would find of interest:

• Internet and Web are proper nouns, so they should be capitalized.
• Smart phone is two words and is not capitalized.
• Capitalize the first word of sentences including "IPhone" and "EBay"
• Log in and log on are verbs; login and logon are nouns
• It's e-marketing, as with all similarly constructed words: e-reader, e-book and e-commerce
  
• Google is uppercase in all uses because it's a trademark.
  
• It's flat-screen as an adjective: flat-screen TV. Otherwise, it's flat screen.

The next #APStyleChat, on Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. EST, will focus on entertainment, with AP's @AliciaQuarles as their guest expert.

Look for the 2011 spiral-bound AP Style book in early spring and the new iPhone app in May. Follow AP Style Book at @APStyleBook.

A lot of buzz has been going around about the number of spaces after a sentence. (One is the answer.) Makes for shorter pitches, right?! Thought it would be a good time for a reminder on the changes that were made in the 2010 AP Style Guide. The below were taken from a hub spot blog. I’ll have to take a look at the 2011 version for any noteworthy updates when it comes out.

•  Website" is officially one word and is lowercased.
• "Web," as a standalone, shortened form of World Wide Web, is capitalized.
• "E-mail" (as well as similar phrases like e-reader, e-book, etc.) are still hyphenated.
• "Smart phone" is separated into two words.
• Other terms with individual entries include "trending," "retweet, and "defriend," as relating to Twitterand Facebook.
• Various abbreviations used in instant messaging and texting (e.g. ROFL, BRB, G2G, etc.) are recognized and defined.

Any AP Style rules being ignored that drive you crazy?