Flyers Aren't Releases

The Neptune Swim Club's flyer publicizing its upcoming regional swim meet is a perfectly legitimate example of a flyer intended to arouse interest and gain support from an internal audience. The folksy style is appropriate for members of a club, including the direct appeal to "come out and show your support." The extravagant use of capital­ization, quote marks, and underlining is probably the simplest way to build excitement in a flyer that is prepared on a typewriter. The crude drawings add to the fun for an internal audience. Even the fact that the flyer is printed on shocking pink paper is defensible: that way it will stand out from other announcements on the bulletin board and when it is mailed to club members.

But what happens when a copy of the flyer is sent to the local newspaper? An editor—presuming he or she isn't turned off by the corny art, the loud color, and the cheerleading style of writing—is faced with the task of doing a complete re-write to put the item into news style And once that task is begun, it becomes apparent that some important information is missing: Is there an admission charge? What are the ages of the competitors? Where can interested parties obtain more information about the event?

 

Not-for-profit groups usually can't afford the services of a professional public relations agency. But even a volunteer with basic experience writing a release can work on the simplest typewriter or personal computer to turn out a competent release that will make it easy for the editor to use the information.

The reincarnation of the Neptune Swim Club flyer as a proper news release (pic) contains most of the elements of the basic release for­mat:

· the "News" banner,

· identification of a contact person with ad­dress and phone number,

· the standard "For Immediate Release" line,

· a sample headline,

· the body of the article,

· and the end sign (#).

 

If news releases really were "standard," there would simply be forms for public relations people to complete, or perhaps a software program calling for information in a fixed format. In fact, practitioners follow conventions that have been developed over years of relations between the news media and their information providers. The "rules" that follow may be bent if circumstances are unusual, but they are the tried-and-true way of packaging your client's story so that it has the best possible chance of attracting the attention and interest of the target editors.

 

Paper and Typeface

Print on one side only of plain white paper. Double-spacing is standard for news copy, and triple-spacing is not uncommon. In order to conserve the taxpayer's money, some government agencies double-space the first few paragraphs and then single space, on the theory that a rewrite person will rework the information in any case. Keeping the release all on one page also permits the editor to see all of the information at a glance. Use a standard, clean typewriter face or one of the basic computer Fonts for body text. Under no circumstance should script or any informal typeface be used. If your release is for radio use only, you may wish to render it in the quarter-inch-high typeface that is available on special typewriters (18-point on the computer). Use mylar (film) ribbons with typewriter or a laser printer with a personal computer for crispness of type.

 

"News" Flag

To make it absolutely clear that the information is intended as a news release, the large single word NEWS in plain black or red letters is printed in large type (36-point is typical) near the top of the page.

 

Release Date

Floating clearly above the text, below the news flag, appears the under­lined and capitalized phrase FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. In rare situ­ations, you may wish to indicate a specific date and time of release, such as: For release at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23. If you want to indicate that it is for release in time for morning newspapers and drive-time radio, say: For release AMS Tuesday, May 3.

Contact Person

The name, address and phone number of the person to contact for addi­tional information should appear in a block near the upper-right-hand corner of the page. Ordinarily the contact would be the person who pre­pared the release—either a member of the in-house staff or the practi­tioner at the agency that prepared the release for the client. In some cases, an agency puts the name of the client as the contact. Occasion­ally, on a new-product release or a story involving technical informa­tion, the public relations department will decide it is useful to list the product manager or the chief engineer as an alternate contact person. For the trade press, that eliminates the need to wait while the public relations department passes on the information request.

 

Serial Number

Many organizations assign a code number to each release and include it either in the heading, under the contact person area, at the end of the first page of the release, or at the very end of the last page of the release. The code number includes a few numbers representing the date of the release, the initials of the person who prepared the release, and perhaps a few let­ters representing the type of release (NP might mean new product; P could stand for personnel).

The serial number serves two purposes for organizations that pre­pare a large number of releases. If a reporter calls and inquires about a topic for which there has been more than one release, the public relations department can ask for the serial number to identify the release to which the reporter is referring. The code system is also useful at the end of the year or any other time when management requests an "audit" of the pub­lic information operation, or when budget-planning requires that the public relations manager prepare a recap of the numbers and types of re­leases prepared during the past year.

 

Headline

The headline on a release serves the same purpose as the headline on a story in a newspaper: to capture the reader's attention and to summa­rize the information in the article. This time the audience is the editor or reporter. The headline should be simple, direct, and written in the active voice: