Press Release Topic #6

Writing a press release takes time to prepare because of the deciding factors of the purpose, who is meant to see it, and when it is needed to be seen. In a press release the needs of the organization need to be clear so the person writing it knows what information to include. For example in the press release for class goal of the Cancer Society is to raise money. So therefore, we had to make it clear in the press release that the goal is to gain volunteers to raise money for the organization. The goal of the media for the press release is always to make sure that the story they are printing is newsworthy. So for example, in class for our press release we had to make sure that we made the story prominant to USM students and the pine belt community. Not only were we promoting Relay for Life which is a popular event in itself, but by stating that it would be held first ever at The Rock, made it newsworthy for the comunity. That also can tie into the needs for the intended public. The media wants the story newsworthy and for a story to be newsworthy it deals with prominance, proximity, timeliness, controversy, etc. Prominance, timeliness, and proximity all help address the needs of the public intended. The public always wants to know what do they get out of it if they help. So for example we explained to them in our press release how all funds go to the Pine Belt chapter of the American Cancer Society, so all of the money they earned stays in their community. A press release is similar to a news article in the way in which it is telling newsworth stories. It informs the people and tells information ina timely manner. It is different from a news article because it is longer and has isn't paid for to be put into places.

Paige J.