Slides from NAdya Anscombe's workshop - Hitting the Headlines

1. Hitting the headlines:
how to get effective, accurate
press coverage for your company
Bristol, 6 December 2012
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

2. Agenda
• Introduction (5 min)
• Why are press releases so important? (10 min)
• What makes a good press release? (20 min)
• Exercise – writing a press release (60 min)
• Distributing a press release (10 min)
• Conclusions (5 min)
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

3. Where do journalists get their stories?
• 70% - 100% of stories in consumer and trade press
originate from press releases
• Other sources include:
- other publications
- conferences
- reviewed journals
- gossip, anonymous tip-offs
- competitor magazines
• Journalists often create their own news
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

4. Newsflash
Journalists are lazy
Many journalists have become “churnalists”
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

5. Churnalism:
the art of spreading news by simply
copy-and-pasting a press release
Get your press release right and you
can get your message out in a very
efficient way
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

6. The press release….
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

7. Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

8. Source: Iran Daily
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

9. The story:
Researchers at Cambridge
University are working on a project
that aims to put RFID tags on every
product in a supermarket
What sorts of readers would
be interested in this story?
How would the press release/
story be different in each case?
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

10. Target readerships
• Supermarket manager, warehouse managers, logistics
companies (“Know where everything is instantly”)
• Consumers, children (“No more queuing at the checkout”;
“What is an RFID tag?”)
• Human rights interest groups, politicians, police, consumers
(“The human rights issues”)
• RF engineers, software engineers, researchers (“This is how
it works”)
• Product and packaging manufacturers (“How to integrate an
RFID chip into your product”)
• Bar code scanner manufacturers (“RFID is coming”)
• Other University of Cambridge researchers (“This is what
we are doing”)
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

11. Once you have decided your target
readership…
• …you know what that reader is interested in and you
know what the most important points are
• … you know what vocabulary to use and how to pitch
the level of information you use
Now you need to convince the editor that
his/her readers will be interested
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

12. Structure of a news story
or press release
Punchy clear headline
Most important fact
Next important fact
Background blurb and quotes
Unimportant facts to fill
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

13. A press release should….
• …be targeted at a specific audience
• …tell the editor what has happened (or is about to
happen), who did it and why it is important
• …also tell the editor when, where and how it
happened
• …not be longer than two pages of A4
• …have a photograph with it
• …contain contact details (for the press and the
reader, if these are different)
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

14. Something needs to have happened
• Not “this is our product”, but “Company A has
launched product X” or “At Exhibition X company A
will be exhibiting product B”
• Not “our product is fab”, but “Customer X has
bought product Y because it does something no
other product does”
• Not “We are focussed on providing quality products
and first class service to our customers”, but “100th
customer in Asia”
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

15. Writing a press release
When writing a press release, ask yourself:
• What is the one main point I need to get across?
What has happened?
• Why is my product/technology/service better
than what other companies are doing?
• What were the challenges we faced and how did
we overcome them?
• Why has this happened now?
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

16. Distributing a press release
• Identify target publications and send the press
release directly to them
• Ask a consultant or media company (eg
Marketwire) to build a list for you
• Use a web-based repository where journalists
come and find stories (eg PR Newswire,
Businesswire, Free Press release, PRWeb Direct,
1888Press release, Eurekalert, Alphagalileo)
• Get a PR company to write and/or distribute the
press release for you
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

17. Summary
• A press release is the best way of getting
attention from the press
• Target your press release at a specific audience
• Get your press release right and the publicity will
generate itself
• A press release is not an advert. Something needs
to have happened
• An accurate, complete press release will ensure
journalists do not make mistakes
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12

18. Thank you!
Nadya Anscombe
Freelance science and technology journalist
mail@nadya-anscombe.com
www.nadya-anscombe.com
0797 079 3127
Nadya Anscombe BEN workshop 6/12/12