For your Press Release, you will want to use information from primary sources. S

For your Press Release, you will want to use information from primary sources. So, you want to go to the organization’s website to find information. You can use the information on their website, you can look at their press releases (sometimes under “News”, and you can also search for any press conferences that might provide you with information. As much as you can, you want to go to the source for your information. With that said, you must put the information in your own words. Even for your boilerplate, you cannot use what the company has at the bottom of their press releases. You must write your own boilerplate.
You will need to follow appropriate Press Release formatting, as discussed extensively in the lecture. For this assignment, you will do it in Times New Roman Font, 12-point font, single-spaced, MLA. Here are the formatting rules you need to follow when writing Press Releases. These elements will contribute to your grade.
In this example, you can see the Company logo at the top, or you can simply print or develop the release on company letterhead, which is what I used to do.
Next, you need to put your name labeled as Contact in the upper left corner, immediately followed by phone and email address.
The third important component is “For Immediate Release” in the right corner.
Following that, you have a Main Title and possible sub-title listed above text, bolded and in bigger font.
The Press Release needs to follow the inverted pyramid style. I also find that quotes when possible are important to include, from the company CEO, or whatever expert the story is highlighting. This makes it easier for the paper, magazine, etc., to print your story as is without a follow-up call to you.
Press Releases should really be one page and at the most two. Anything more than that and the release will not be printed. If the release is two pages, you need to write, “-Over-“.
Finally, after the body of the paper, you see centered the triple “hashtag” sign, or as anyone who is over 30 will call it, a number sign listed three times. This is very important to include at the end of your release. It signals that the release is done.
Below the triple hashtag/number sign, you need to have a boilerplate. That is a paragraph or sentence that shares information about the organization you are representing, and this information never changes. It is unique and separate from whatever you are discussing in this particular press release.
Finally, you need another sentence about you and your contact information at the end of the document saying, “Please contact…for more information ….”
And remember, no heading on your paper.
You will still need to submit using a Word document, but you may want to also submit a PDF file of your Press Release. If your formatting changes when you upload your Word document, you can save it as a PDF and upload both.
Also, within the document you need to provide links to the sources you used (when you use them) and a works cited page.
Last, make sure you fill out and submit the News Writing Planning Strategy Sheet that is available in the Course Content section, above Session 1. You can save the form and your assignment as one document. Not submitting the NWPSS will result in a loss of 15 points.