Formatting Press Releases

• A good press release should be easy to read, clear and simple. It should be written in universally accepted font.
• It is important that a press release to be formatted for maximum consistency in transmitting across multiple computer platforms.
• Usually, companies delivering press releases by email. Therefore, it is crucial to avoid using bold and italicized and colored text, as it is unpredictable how that same text will appear on someone else's monitor.

According to Colorado State University, a press release must consists of these 5 basic elements:  

1)       Title

2)       Headline

3)       Body

4)       Contact Information

5)       Ending
 

Title

•    A press release should always begin with the title words, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, or simply, PRESS RELEASE. This specifies to the media that the announcement they are receiving is a press release, and that it can be published immediately. It also eliminates the need for a cover letter.

Headline

• The headline, separated by one space, should follow the title of a press release. If at all possible, it should contain no more than ten words.
• The first letter of each key word should be capitalized. Articles, conjunctions, and prepositions should be capitalized only when they occur at the beginning or end of your headline.

Body

• The body of a press release should contain all the information the media outlet is being asked to publish.
• It should be separated from the headline by one space, as should each of its paragraphs.
• A press release should begin with a lead paragraph and conclude with a boilerplate.
• A disclaimer should follow whenever an opportunity exists for information to be misconstrued.

Contact Information

• The sender's contact information should always follow the body of a press release, separated by one space. This information should never be placed at the top of the page.
• The top of a press release is premium copy space and should be reserved for attention grabbing copy such as a headline and lead paragraph. It should never be used for incidental information.
• When a press release, delivered by E-mail, pops up on a computer monitor, the headline and lead paragraph should display prominently. The reader shouldn't have to scroll down in order to find these elements. 
• If a member of the media wishes to contact the source of a press release, they know to look for that information at the end of the document.

Ending

• The end of the press release should be stated with one of these three universally accepted characters, which are -30- ,   ###      , End.
• If your press release is delivered by any other method than E-mail and exceeds one page in length, the word More should appear at the bottom of all but the last page
  (Colorado State University. n,d).

References

Colorado State University. (n,d). Formatting press releases. Retrieved from http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/documents/business_writing/business_press_releases/formatting.cfm 

Google’s press release [Photograph]. (1998) Retrieved June 26, 2012, from:  Guffey, M.E., Rhodes, K., & Rogin, P. (2011) Business communication: Process and product (6^th Canadian ed.). Toronto, ON: Nelson.