PRW Newsletter, December 1, 1999 -- Feature from Kirk Hallahan, Ph. D, Colorado State University

In this Issue:

• Featured Article - Writing a Press Release: A Checklist
• The Marketing Tip - Mozilla is your Friend
• Past Issues

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Writing a Press Release: A Checklist

Challenges of writing publicity material

Limited news hole
Alternative viewpoints possible
Write for many media; editors have different interests, quirks
Varying news value of items
Editors' skepticism
Publicists are responsible for errors, have no editors.

How releases can be used

As-is (generally limited to routine, noncontroversial news)
As source of information for a story written by a reporter (can use
facts, quotes, background information)
As the basis for an interview

Format

1-2 pages maximum (400-500 words)
Inverted pyramid format
Strong lead (5Ws&H: Who, what, when, where, why, how)
Typewritten, double spaced, one side of sheet at bottom of pages; identifier (slug) on subsequent pages
-30- or ### at end.

Important items to include:

Contact Name and Phone (Be available for follow-up inquiries)
Release time (Immediate release or embargo with specified time)
Headline (identifier)
Dateline (optional; include if location is important)
Date (possibly serial number, too)

Common Problems:

No news of interest to editor (usually a misdirected release)
News is buried (often a ploy when news is bad)
Leads with wrong focus, wordy
Missing information; fail to anticipate basic questions
Excessive commercialism (self-laudatory, excessive adjectives)
Lacks strong angle (Remember key elements of news: Prominence,
Drama, Human Interest, Localness, Consequence, Oddity, Topical)

Make your key points

Near top (first or second paragraph)
Be sure to include standard (ideal) description of organization
Work other (positive) points into text
Avoid overstatement; beware of claims as first, only, unique
Use quotes to incorporate opinion, subjective ideas, explain rationale for actions. Avoid trite quotes, purge clichés.
Cite the most appropriate spokesperson for organization
In case of bad news, stress actions being taken to rectify.

Write like a pro!

Use clear, concise, vivid language
Sentences should not exceed 15 words; paragraphs should not exceed 30 words of four typewritten lines
Follow news style (not advertising style)
Check for proper grammar, spelling, punctuation
Provide neat, clean copy
Distribute on a timely basis, meet deadlines
Write for the audience, not the client
Proof, proof, poof!

This feature provided by Kirk Hallahan, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Journalism & Technical Communication at Colorado State University who maintains all rights. http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hallahan/

Yahoo! was once the lone giant of directory based search engines. Yahoo! is a big and powerful directory and everyone has always wanted to be a friend to Yahoo! And everyone still should. Some webmasters report that 80% of their traffic comes from Yahoo. Yahoo! will continue to be a big giant for the foreseeable future, however, there is a new giant on the block that demands respect as well, Mozilla. Not the Web browser, but the directory.

Netscape has joined forces with Lycos and Hotbot to produce a directory based search engine called Open Directory that is demanding our attention . You'll find the home of this monster at dmoz.org. The directory works much like Yahoo! in the respect that it has categories and sub-categories. The big difference is that Open Directory uses a vast army of volunteer editors. This makes it much easier and faster to get your Web site listed in Open Directory.

You might be asking yourself, "Why should I spend the time to get my Web site into Open Directory?" It's really simple. AOL Search, Lycos, Hotbot, Netscape, Alta Vista, and many others are pulling data from Open Directory. This might give Open Directory almost as much power as Yahoo. Our advice, befriend this monster.

Check it out:
http://dmoz.org

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