There are two basic formats for information releases.

1. The Media Alert works well for events such as concerts or speeches. It is also a good format for events that are being announced on short notice. The Media Alert contains the five W’s: who, what when, where and why. It lists information under these basic headers. It contains little prose and reporters and content managers can scan it quickly for relevant facts. It can generate a follow-up inquiry and is very effective for placing calendar listings.

2. Information Releases are written in paragraph style using simple sentences of less than 15 words. Put the most important information in the first paragraph. Since content managers and reporters get literally dozens of releases every day, they tend to read only the first lines of material they get. For that reason it is important to put the primary information up front. Buried information doesn’t get read. Write in short sentences and short paragraphs. Include the five W’s in the first few paragraphs. Make clear in the first sentences why this is news, based on the news release request form. Releases should rarely be longer than one page in length.