Working With The Media Example

Working With The Media Example Working With The Media â€" Assignment Example > Working with the mediaIntroductionThe paper presents two rough drafts of media releases providing the national tour details of two of the biggest names in the world of music: Michael Bolton and John Mayer. However, even before providing the drafts, it is needed to understand the concept of press release and the elements that encompass a press release. Further, the paper would focus on the information needed to create these two press releases. Finally, two rough drafts of the releases would be provided. Describing press releaseA media release or press release is described as a written or recorded form of communication disseminated to the media to announce about some important news. Generally a press release is sent to the media via mail, e-mail or fax. Such a release is sent to all form of media, i.e. newspapers, news channels, magazines, radio stations etc. Some even employ the services of professional press release distribution companies to distribute releases to a wider audience . Some of these distribution services are Business Wire, PR Newswire and PR NewsChannel (Bartram, 1999). Press releases are being commonly used in public relations field. This is a method through which public relations companies try to attract media attention towards the product or event of their clients and provide favourable publicity. A release is generally given to provide the reporters some basic information about the product or event. On the basis of this release, the journalists develop their stories. A press release is issued to announce variety of news such as scheduling of events, winning of awards, launching of new products or services, sales and revenue data etc. Many journalists also develop a feature story out of these releases. Some of the releases are also used to announce details about conferences or changes in an organisation (Bivins, 1995). Elements of press releaseAlthough, there are various types of press releases like event related release, product launch rel ease and financial announcement releases, most releases have common characteristics and follows a unified structure. This is done to help journalists in recognising a press release easily and separate them from other such public relations tools like a media advisories or pitch letter. Some of the common characteristics of a press release are (Bartram, 1999): Headline: The headline should be brief and crisp, summarising the news in a line, albeit in a creative manner. Dateline: The release date and the city from where the release has originated. Introduction: Basic information about the event is provided in the very first paragraph of the release. Body: This describes the event in detail, providing data and background on the event. Boilerplate: It is also known as the about section, wherein, information about the company, event or personality is being provided. Close: Different countries use different symbols to indicate that the press release has been closed. For instance in the U S, “-30-” is being used. More commonly the symbol #### is used. Contact information: The name, number and all other relevant contact details of the PR personal is provided at the end of the press release so that the media may contact the person for further information.