How to Write a Press Release a Journalist Will Actually Use

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Knowing how to write a press release is knowing who reads it and how. The reader is a journalist with a full inbox and a deadline, looking for material they can turn into a story with the least possible surgery. Releases that get used read like news that happens to be about your business. Releases that get binned read like brochures that happen to mention a date.

A press release is one tool inside the wider publicity process — and it is not the same thing as the coverage it hopes to produce, a distinction our comparison of earned media vs. press releases sets out in detail. This post is about the document itself: its standard press release format, part by part, in the order a journalist reads it.

Start with the news test

Before any formatting: is there news? A launch, an opening, a result, a change, a first, a record, a response to something happening — a release needs an event or a fact at its centre, stated in the first sentence. “We are pleased to announce our new website” fails the test, because nothing has changed for anyone outside the building. “The bakery on Kanaalstraat will bake through the night this Friday so no customer queues in the cold” passes it. If your announcement has no news in it, the honest routes are a pitch built on a different angle, or no release at all.

The press release format, part by part

The release marker. Begin with “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” — or an embargo line if the news is genuinely time-held. It tells the reader the document’s status in two seconds.

The headline. Write it as a news headline, not a slogan: subject, active verb, the news itself. “Bakkerij De Jong Opens Second Shop in Rotterdam Noord” can be lifted straight into a story. “Exciting Times Ahead for Our Bakery Family!” cannot be lifted anywhere.

The subheadline (optional). One line adding the most newsworthy supporting fact — the number, the date, the scale. Use it when the headline alone undersells the story; skip it when it would repeat.

The dateline and lead paragraph. City, date, then the whole story in two or three sentences: who, what, when, where, why. This paragraph does the heaviest work in the document. A journalist who reads nothing else should still be able to write a short news brief from it alone.

The body. Two or three short paragraphs expanding the lead in descending order of importance: the detail, the background, the context. Every fact here should be checkable and every claim about your own business provable.

The quotes. One or two, from named people with real titles. A usable quote adds what facts cannot: a reason, a judgement, a human reaction. “We are delighted to announce” adds nothing and will be cut. A quote that explains *why this, why now* survives editing.

The practical details. Dates, times, address, price where public, how to take part — gathered in one place, not scattered through the prose.

Notes to editors and the boilerplate. Background a journalist may want (the fuller context, the background figures), then the boilerplate: your standard short paragraph about the business. It is the same paragraph your media kit holds — keep the wording identical in both places.

The contact. A named person, a direct email, a phone number. On deadline, this line is the release’s most-used feature.

A short press release example, in skeleton

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

De Jong Cycles Offers Free Winter Safety Checks for Children’s Bikes, 8–15 November

ROTTERDAM, 2 November — De Jong Cycles, the family bike shop on Kanaalstraat, will offer free safety checks for children’s bikes from 8 to 15 November, covering brakes, lights, tyres and reflectors ahead of the darkest weeks of the school run.

The checks take fifteen minutes and need no appointment. Last winter the shop repaired several children’s bikes whose brakes had worn unnoticed, which prompted the offer.

“We see the same three faults every November,” says owner Marije de Jong. “Worn brake pads, dead lights and soft tyres. All three are quick to fix and easy to miss at home.”

*Notes to editors: De Jong Cycles is a family-run bicycle shop in Rotterdam, founded in 1998, offering sales, repair and maintenance. Photographs of the checks are available on request.*

*Contact: [Name], [direct email], [phone]*

Notice what the skeleton does: the news is complete in the headline and first paragraph; the quote explains rather than celebrates; the boilerplate is factual; the contact is a person. Kept and reused, that skeleton becomes your press release template — the same structure, filled with each announcement’s facts.

The mistakes that get releases binned

• Marketing copy in news clothing. Superlatives, exclamation marks and “world-class” language tell the journalist the document cannot be trusted as facts.
• The news buried at paragraph four. Structure is descending importance, always. If the event is in the fourth paragraph, the writer did not know what the story was.
• Quotes that say nothing. A quote is the one place a human voice is expected; wasting it on delight is wasting the release’s best sentence.
• No contact, or a contact form. A release that makes follow-up difficult is a release that gets skipped for an easier source.
• Sending it to everyone. A release is not made relevant by the size of its list. Targeting is the pitch’s job and the sender’s discipline, covered in our guide on how to get earned media coverage.

After the writing

The finished release still needs distribution with judgement — the right list, a pitch written for each segment of it, and follow-up that respects the reader’s time. That distribution is the work of our press release distribution service, and releases sit inside broader campaigns in our earned media service. Either way, the standard for the document does not change: news first, facts checkable, quotes human, contact real. Write the release a journalist can use without surgery, and you have done the one thing most releases never do.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a press release be?

One page is the working standard — roughly 300 to 500 words. That is enough for the news, two quotes and the background, and short enough to be read fully by someone triaging a full inbox. If a release needs a second page, the news is usually buried rather than big; cut the throat-clearing before you cut the facts.

What is the difference between a press release and earned media?

A press release is a document you write and send; earned media is the coverage a journalist independently decides to publish. The release is an input, the coverage is the outcome — and the outcome is never guaranteed, which is exactly why the document has to be good. Our comparison of earned media vs. press releases walks through the distinction in full.

Should I send the release as an attachment or in the email body?

Put the release in the body of the email, below a short pitch, or link to it — rather than sending an uninvited attachment. Attachments from unknown senders are filtered and treated with suspicion, and a journalist on a phone will not open one. The exception is when a journalist asks for the file itself; then send exactly what they asked for, promptly.

What is a boilerplate in a press release?

The boilerplate is the short standard paragraph about your business at the end of the release: what it does, who it serves, where, and since when. It stays the same across releases, is written once and written carefully, and gives the journalist accurate background without a follow-up call. Keep it factual — it will be quoted.