Rewriting press releases

Press releases  One way a reporter gets information  Also called news releases  Corporations, governments, non-profit agencies, politicians - they all send out press releases to get their names into the news  Sometimes the press release merely is a statement written on paper  Other times, much more elaborate Examples: Videos, socks, T-shirts, magnets and posters

The point of press releases  The idea is to attract the reporter's attention  Press releases will announce upcoming events, tell of new products or programs, profile people and give a politician's opinions on controversial issues  Info is written or produced to make the corporation, agency or person look good. Press releases are aimed at putting the person, company or agency in a good public light

Reason to rewrite  That's why we rewrite them  The reporter's job isn’t to promote a product, agency or politician - at least, not in the news pages. That's what advertising and editorials do  Reporters should tell a story, objectively  Reporters decide what to use from the press release, if anything  Just because someone issues a press release doesn't mean it's news  Use press releases as a start to a more expanded story on a topic  Get independent sources to talk to you

How to write them  You should know how they are written and how to rewrite them  Usually written in the classic inverted pyramid style  When writing a press release, the most important information for the corporation, agency or person should be at the top  Reporters and editors have little time to wade through paragraphs to get to the point of the press release and will toss it

How to rewrite them  Read the release and decide what information is most important to the reader, not the corporation, person or agency  Focus on what's news  Call who wrote it to verify the information, when possible. Some releases are so straightforward that little additional reporting is needed

More on rewriting press releases  When you can, do additional reporting before you write a story based on a news release. Double check everything. Interview key people mentioned in the release. Include human elements in the story  In summary, ID the most important info for the readers, not the agency that released the information. Your job as a reporter is to evaluate information, not write an ad