News Release

In public relations there are different formats used when writing for different purposes. A news release is one of them. According to the text, a news release is a news story that is used by organizations to provide information to the text based news media. After viewing three examples of news releases from the textbook; Becoming a Public Relations Writer by Ronald Smith, I have notice that they tend to have similar attributes.

            News releases always begin in the same way. A headline is provided to explain briefly what the topic of the news release is. The organizations name is provided along with contact information at the top as well. This is done so that journalists who receive them are able to get more information easily if needed. One thing that I truly liked when looking at these examples is how the organization’s name was presented in each. The organization’s name in all three examples is centered in the upper part of the page in bold. The reader’s attention is easily caught by the organizations identification. This is smart on their behalf because the journalist will know right away whom the news release is about.  

            A strong lead is another attribute that these news releases have in common. A strong lead is important. They are meant to catch the reader’s attention from the start so that they want to read more. If a lead is not written properly, you risk the chance of losing your target audience. Last, but certainly not least an end mark or a more mark is used at the end of the page. An end mark is used to signify that there is no more to read. A more mark is used so that the reader knows to flip the page because there is still more to be read.    

             Overall, The examples in the text share many of the same attributes. These attributes are used to create a well-written and well-organized news release.