Writing a press release: the basic rules

The tasks of the press office and its press officer are a complex and complicated world. Indeed, this figure covers a series of roles: from the organisation of an event or a press conference to maintaining relations with the media, from managing the press area of a company or being part of the drafting, among the most frequent activities, of press releases. In this case we will take care of the basic rules that are necessary for the drafting of an effective and effective press release.

First of all, what is a press release? It is the basic tool with which the press office communicates information to the media that is believed to be of interest to the public/spectator of the reference publications. It is good to keep in mind that the press release is a description of a fact. The announcement of an event or a launch of a new product, is something to be chronicled, without the addition of personal opinions. Another fundamental rule is to not sign the press release but to send it with the references of press office at the bottom, to all the newspapers. The same news may receive different takes depending on the different recipients, this also applies to the press release that will have to have a different cut and length depending on the media outlet to which it is transmitted. For example, for a press agency it will be short and technical, while for a radio-television broadcaster it will always be short but with a particular emphasis on the news items.

To draft a good press release it is necessary to follow the "Rule of the 5 W":

• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• Why

These should also include "to whom". The "Rule of the Pyramid" is essential to keep intact, in the sense that very often editors and editing staff in general do not have much time and when it comes to press releases, they tend to cut from below and therefore the focus of the news is the fact or main subject at the top and the rest follows. A solution is to compose the communiqu into 2 sections, a first with the main information and in the second an in-depth component. The optimal length is equivalent to about 1800 characters, to avoid being long-winded and risk ending up in the trash as soon as the mail is opened. Make sure that anything you write is written well with a clear language and not repetitive.