BY FRANCESCA AVIGO

START WRITING NEWS STORIES THAT STAND OUT

From politics and sport, to celebrities, the news is varied, at times strange and often controversial. In order to compete in this landscape, it’s important that your next news story hits the nail on the head to stand out from the crowd. Here, Francesca Avigo, account executive at technical PR agency, Stone Junction, explains how to write the perfect press release for your content PR campaign.

Do you ever watch the news on TV or scroll through your phone and find yourself wondering why on earth something is newsworthy at all?

We all know Kim Kardashian is famous for her image, but do we really care if she’s wearing a revealing Thierry Mugler dress? Or that she’s had a bikini malfunction while on the beach in Malibu? For the majority, I’m sure, the answer is no.

To define a true news story, it must contain hardship, conflict, scandal and/or novelty. So, on the face of it, I can understand why you might not appreciate this as a typical standard of news. Although, when you analyse what makes it ‘newsworthy’ there is scandal in the story.

Wardrobe malfunctions are a common occurrence (especially for women), but because it’s happened to a huge celebrity like Kim Kardashian, it could be considered scandalous.

Check out our article on identifying fake news on social media, to ensure you’re only working with facts.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Writing a press release is not as simple as it sounds. In order to write an effective news story, you must consider the following writing tips:
• Why you are writing the article
• The audience you’re writing for and what use is it to them
• The news outlet you want to target
• What you want the reader to do next

Your first paragraph will set the scene for the press release and must contain the crucial, who, what, where, when, why and how factors. Including these key points in your introduction paragraph should have your reader hooked and informed for the following they’re about to read. Remember, journalists cut from the bottom up if they need to save space, so it’s necessary to include the most important information in the main body of the release.

Your next paragraphs should expand on key points that were made in the introductory paragraph. It’s important to then include quotes that add value to the story, but don’t repeat what’s already been said — give the reader some juicy information from the horse’s mouth, if you can.

Like any good piece of writing, you must then succinctly conclude your article and link back to a point you made in the beginning. For your story to be memorable, you need to remind the reader why they read the article and give them something to take away — just like leaving a good restaurant with the dessert you couldn’t finish. Whether it’s a call to action or an interesting fact, this will ensure your release stands out.

GAINING MEDIA COVERAGE

In order to get coverage for your next press release you must also spend time appropriately targeting the right media outlets. After all, The Engineer is unlikely to run an article about Kim Kardashian’s latest nip-slip, but it will be interested in your amazing new machinery.

At Stone Junction we have over ten years’ experience of writing press releases supported by a strict set of editorial standards and internal, ISO 9001 quality control process to ensure we deliver excellent content PR and always write with the reader in mind.

If you need help getting coverage for your next news release, give us a call on +44 (0)1785 225416 or email sayhello@stonejunction.co.uk to discuss how we can make your story stand out from the rest, without a bikini malfunction in sight!