Press Release Writing

Press Release Writing

Overview

A press release is a short, journalist-facing news document with a single goal: make it so easy to publish your news that a busy reporter (or a wire-service automated feed) can run it nearly verbatim.

The defining traits of a press release:

• Third person, past or present tense, never “we”
• Inverted-pyramid structure
• AP Style dateline at the top of the body
• Stable boilerplate at the bottom (the “About” paragraph)
• Quote attribution that is publication-ready
• End mark: ### centered on its own line
• 400–600 words is the sweet spot

Core Concepts

1. The headline (and the subhead)

Rules:

• Under ~100 characters.
• Active verbs.
• No marketing puffery: avoid “industry-leading,” “revolutionary,” “best-in-class.”
• State the news, not the spin.

Acme Corp Acquires Beta Analytics for $400 Million
Deal Doubles Acme's Enterprise Data Footprint and Adds 1,200 Engineers

2. Release-type tag

• FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — the default
• EMBARGOED UNTIL: [Day, Month Day, Year, HH:MM TIME ZONE]
• MEDIA ADVISORY — for an upcoming event/availability

Always include the time zone for embargoes.

3. The dateline (AP Style)

CITY, State Abbreviation, Month Day, Year — <lede starts here>

• City name in ALL CAPS
• AP state abbreviation (not USPS!)
• Date written out: Nov. 12, 2026 (AP uses abbreviated months for Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.)
• Em dash (—) before the lede

4. The lede (and the five Ws)

The first sentence must contain Who, What, When, Where, Why.

Bad lede:

Acme Corp, a leading provider of analytics solutions, is excited to announce today an important new milestone in its ongoing growth journey.

Good lede:

Acme Corp today announced it has acquired Beta Analytics, a Boston-based real-time data platform, for $400 million in cash and stock.

5. The body (inverted pyramid)

1. Paragraph 2: amplification — the size, the scope, the differentiator.
2. Paragraph 3: the executive quote.
3. Paragraph 4–5: supporting detail.
4. Paragraph 6: optional second quote.
5. Paragraph 7: practical info — availability, pricing, link.
6. Boilerplate: stable “About” paragraph(s).
7. Media contact block.
8. End mark: ###.

6. Quote attribution

Standard pattern:

“We chose Beta because their real-time architecture is the strongest in the market,” said Jane Doe, CEO of Acme Corp.

Rules:

• Attribution after the first sentence of the quote.
• said is the AP-standard verb. Avoid stated, commented, noted, exclaimed.
• Full name + title + company on first reference.

7. The boilerplate

About Acme Corp
Acme Corp is a [category] company that helps [audience] [job-to-be-done]. Founded in [year] and headquartered in [city], Acme serves [customer count]. For more information, visit www.acme.com.

60–120 words. Updated when a hard fact changes.

8. Media contact block

Media Contact:
Jordan Smith
Director of Communications, Acme Corp
+1 (415) 555-0142
[email protected]

9. The end mark

The release ends with ### centered on its own line (or the older -30-).

Full press release skeleton

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Headline in Title Case]
[Subhead]

CITY, State, Month Day, Year — [Lede with five Ws]

[Paragraph 2: amplification]

"[Quote]," said [Name, Title, Company].

[Paragraph 4–5: supporting detail]

"[Customer or partner quote]," said [Name, Title, Company].

[Practical info: availability, pricing]

About [Company]
[Stable boilerplate paragraph]

About [Partner Company if applicable]

Media Contact:
[Name]
[Title, Company]
[Phone]
[Email]

###

Anti-Patterns

References

• How to Write an AP Style Press Release — PR Newswire
• AP Stylebook