PR Writing: Chapter 6

Headlines should only be 8-12 words long. I think this is very important because of the TL;DR attitude most in this day in age have. Most people, especially journalists, live hectic and busy lives. To keep a headline as concise as possible, but also interesting, is a true art form that must be practiced.

Leads are the most important element of the document- they let the reader know if this information is important enough to read or not. I thoroughly enjoy writing leads because of this inverted pyramid puzzle that one must work out. It is tricky to write a clean, concise lead that will persuade the reader to continue reading, but it’s very fun, an important, to find a way to make this happen.

“News is only news when it’s local”. I have never heard this statement before, but after reading the section, I can see it’s relevance and importance. Localizing your news release may mean writing it a few different ways, but the benefits of drawing in those who found relevance in the release because of the localized element will be worth it in the long run.

 

Though I have taken writing for the mass media and done press releases before, it is refreshing to be in a course where that is the main focus. I actually enjoyed writing press releases for the short time we did because it truly was like a mind puzzle, attempting to find the right words and structure to create a document that was straight to the point with facts, but interesting enough to read and want to use. This chapter will help me immensely in my writing because it very thoroughly explains the art of writing a press release and all the elements needed to make it successful. This is also helpful in my professional career because every PR practitioner must know how to write a press release in order to thrive at their job.