Humanities Homework Help

Unit Exercise 8: Writing a Press Release

Instructions:

You are the public relations contact for a company. Your assignment is to write a press release based on the information provided on the next page. You should cover it in much the same way as a news story to sell it to a journalist. The main difference is that you want your client to look good while making the event seem as objective as possible. Use inverted pyramid style and make sure you begin with the most important information first. Also, be sure that your client is prominently displayed in the press release. Use proper AP style and press release format and follow the rules outlined in the unit lesson. A template for a proper press release is given below. The details for the release you should write are provided on the next page.

Example Template

Company Logo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DATE
CONTACT:
PHONE, EMAIL, ETC.

HEADLINE

DATELINE— Inverted pyramid style lead here. Be sure to include the 5 Ws and eliminate puffery, making it sound as objective as possible (while still making your company look good).

Nut graph here. Make sure it addresses why people should care about this press release. Consider statistics to help show the validity of the press release.

Quote from your boss (again, make him or her sound good).

More information to add to the lead.

Another quote from a different source (remember, news stories need to have two sources)

More information about the event. Include photo opportunities if appropriate.

The last paragraph should be the boilerplate, which is background on your PR client. For example: “Grossmont College is a 60-year-old community college which serves…”

###

(Use ### symbols or END signify the end of the press release;
use MORE if the press release is more than one page.)

Now You Try It

The Details: The organization is hosting a special event in one week. As the company’s press contact, you need to send a press release to all the local newspapers and television stations.

Who (Your Client): ONE foundation’s World Swim Against Malaria www.one.org (Links to an external site.).

When: Sunday

What: Mother’s Day Fancy Dress Swim where mothers and daughters will jump into the ocean fully dressed in fancy clothes

Why: To raise money and awareness for ONE.

Where: Oceanside Pier

Background: One is co-founded by U2 singer Bono and has more than 2 million people from around the world dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. The organization hopes to raise $2,000, all of which will be used to fight the disease.

Quotations you can use:

1. 1. 1. For each $5 donation, the group provides an insecticide-treated mosquito net that can “spare a fellow mom the agony of losing their kids to malaria,” said Marlaine Cover of Escondido, coordinator of ONE San Diego County and the event’s organizer.
      2. “So many charities you give money to, but you never see where the money is going,” said Cover’s daughter, Ari Cover, a recent UC San Diego graduate who introduced her mother to the group about a year ago.
      3. According to Meg Decker of Trinity Episcopal Church of Escondido, which sponsored the event, the worldwide ONE Global Fund has dispersed $6.7 billion and 70 million insecticide-treated bed nets to protect families from malaria.