By Natasha McGarrell
If done right, a media release is an effective way of telling your story to the media. Here are our top tips for writing an informative and engaging media release that helps achieve coverage.
Get the facts straight
Writing a media release when you haven’t got all the information is difficult and time consuming. It’s important to source all of the details and research before you start writing. This means interviewing the source (sometimes two or three different people) over the phone or face-to-face to ensure you’re across every detail.
Put on your detective cap
It’s important to do your research when writing a media release. Always fact check what others have told you and question when things don’t add up. Look into who is already writing about the topic, and what is being said. Dig deeper into topics you don’t understand. For example, if writing about a particular dish, ingredient or cooking process do a little extra research to make sure you have a good understanding of it. There’s nothing worse than having a journalist question a piece of info and you can’t explain it either so make sure you’re across every detail.
Nix the fluff
“I wish this media release had more words,” said no journalist ever. Waffling on wastes everyone’s time. Eliminate unnecessary words to make your media release punchy and try to use maximum 20 words in a sentence. Instead of piling a media release with adjectives, adverbs, clichés and hyperboles, energise your verbs to create an engaging media release. Here’s a great article on writing redundancies to avoid.
Use meaningful quotes
Quotes should not be space fillers. A good quote adds meaning to a media release and says something different to the other paragraphs. Avoid quotes that begin with, “I’m so excited that…” or, “we can’t wait for…” Instead, ask your client to explain the story behind their concept or what they expect to achieve from their project.
Take a break
If possible, don’t write a media release in one sitting. Take a breather after the first draft, grab a cuppa and revisit your media release with fresh eyes. If you have the time, sleep on it and edit it thoroughly the following day. You’ll find your writing will be better for it.
Finally, while a media release is a great source of detail, it’s the tailored pitch that will really get it over the line. Make sure you tailor a relevant pitch to each relevant journalist, every time.