The press release, or news release, is the most common way to disseminate your news to the media. The following are elements that should always be included in the release:

Contact Information – make sure you include a name and phone number for the media to contact with questions. If you are the contact, make sure you do not have plans to be out of the office over an extended period of time, especially for a few hours following the distribution, so that you can respond quickly to media inquiries

Who – includes the organization name, executive directors, management, quoted sources, sponsors, speakers, etc.

What – the name of the event, what the event is about

When – includes day of the week, date, and times

Where – includes the physical address and directions on how to get there

Why – this information may not always be relevant, but it will be important if you are putting together a fundraising event or an awareness campaign

How – this may include the cost for the public to attend the event and how to get tickets (including who to contact, phone numbers or website information, times, and locations for purchases tickets)

Headline – the brief title of the release

Dateline – this is the date you send the release and the location from which you are sending it

Lead paragraph – this is the very first paragraph of the release and includes the most important information

Quotes- can give you the ability to plug your event without compromising the “information only” aspect of your press release; for example, Bo Brown says” You don’t want to miss this event!”

Boilerplate – this is the paragraph at the end of the release and it generally describes your organization; the paragraph may contain the name of the organization, when and why it was founded, and any ongoing initiatives

Sponsors – always include any corporate or individual sponsors who helped make your project, event, or announcement possible

Editor Notation – these elements include “For immediate release” at the top of the release, “more” at the bottom of each page, which lets a reporter know there is more than one page, page numbers at the top of subsequent pages, and “###” at the end of the release to signify that it is the end of the release

From Texas Commission on the Arts
Media Relations 101