Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Company Sends Press Release to Press to Alert Press of Newsworthy Event

GRAND RAPIDS, MI—Fake Company, a local accounting firm, recently fabricated a newsworthy event and, in an effort to get some attention for that event, wrote a press release that was then sent to press outlets in an attempt to garner some publicity.

The company’s event was held with little fanfare, and the attempt to get the press to cover it after the fact showed both gung-ho initiative and laid-back laziness. If the press were to pick up the press release, it would likely be edited for space and content prior to making it to the public.

“I might say something here if I were a real person of credibility,” says Jake Hargrove, president of Fake Company. “But I’m a fake person with a fake name for the purposes of the point this author is making.”

A good way to tell if a press release is press-release worthy is the five-w test. Like a news article, the lede (not a typo) of a press release should tell the reader who, what, when, where, and why something happened. If you can’t explain all five, four, or even one of those w words, your item probably isn’t worthy of a press release.

It’s important to note, “For immediate release” usually implies “immediately” and thus takes care of the “when?” question.

Following the quote and some supporting information, there might be some more supporting information.

Then it trails off at the end.

About Boiler-Plate Copy

Following everything people might but probably don’t care about, it’s time to copy and paste generic information about your company written at least eight years ago, which seems stupid but can actually be quite helpful to anyone who needs an extra tidbit or two when distributing your news. Because this copy is rarely altered, it’s a best practice to say your company was established in (year) rather than your company has been in business for (number) years. Regardless, the boiler plate ends with telling people to visit a website at iamjef.com.

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