Why you should let a former journalist write your press release
In creating my last post "News for Jurupa Valley," I came across a press release that the author of should be glad he works for a large government agency. That's the only reason a professional journalist, and for that matter, this journalist turned small business promoter and news blogger, would use this release.
With apologies to Western Riverside Municipal Water District for being made an example of what not to do , let me explain what I mean. Please ignore the community services districts' logos on this press release. Although the press release is about them, they had nothing to do with the creation of this.
Do you understand a word this press release says? It took me awhile, but I think I do. My interpretation is the third story down on my previous blog post News for Jurupa Valley. Interesting stuff for a beginning news blogger, but maybe not as important as a major street closing or even an opportunity for people to meet our new Assembly representative. So if this blog is the venture that proves successful, I'm not sure how much more coverage Western Municipal Water District will see. It's a lot of work to translate their press releases into understandable stories. If I were a reporter instead of a blogger, I'd even have to call the general managers of the two services districts, to find out what they really think about the project. This jargon, no doubt was something no one ever said, but was written down by a press release writer who thought the big words would impress the journalists.
Also, do you notice that I at no time mentioned Western Municipal Water District in the previous blog post? I thank them for sending this valuable information to the Jurupa Valley Chamber of Commerce, which is where I found and repurposed it for my blog. But WMWD wasn't really the newsmaker here, just the employer of the bad press release writers.
I also have to find fault with WMWD for the format of this press release. It's a PDF. That means in order for anyone to use it, they have to RETYPE the information. They cannot just copy and paste, then make the necessary edits. That's not a horribly bad thing in this case, because there are so many edits needed it might be best to start from scratch.
If you are a small business owner, your story may not directly affect everyone in a city of 100,000 like Western Municipal Water District's story does. Western Municipal Water District's story does. So you're going to want to make sure you send out a well-written story. You're going to want to make sure that you and your business are recognized as an important part of that story. And you're going to want to make it as easy as you can for the journalists to decide they want to use your press release.
I know what a journalist wants because before first starting my freelance writing business in 2003 (before my public relations career began) I worked as a reporter and newspaper editor. I faced a stack of press releases every day, far more than would fit in the space I had to work with. I quickly decided which ones made the cut, and which ones didn't. WMWD's, most days, would not have. Had this instead been a small business owner's press release commenting on other people's news, it almost surely would not have.
Don't let that happen to you. Make a small investment and let this former journalist tell your story to those who still work in journalism. I get them. They'll get me. You'll get coverage and you'll get customers.
With apologies to Western Riverside Municipal Water District for being made an example of what not to do , let me explain what I mean. Please ignore the community services districts' logos on this press release. Although the press release is about them, they had nothing to do with the creation of this.
Do you understand a word this press release says? It took me awhile, but I think I do. My interpretation is the third story down on my previous blog post News for Jurupa Valley. Interesting stuff for a beginning news blogger, but maybe not as important as a major street closing or even an opportunity for people to meet our new Assembly representative. So if this blog is the venture that proves successful, I'm not sure how much more coverage Western Municipal Water District will see. It's a lot of work to translate their press releases into understandable stories. If I were a reporter instead of a blogger, I'd even have to call the general managers of the two services districts, to find out what they really think about the project. This jargon, no doubt was something no one ever said, but was written down by a press release writer who thought the big words would impress the journalists.
Also, do you notice that I at no time mentioned Western Municipal Water District in the previous blog post? I thank them for sending this valuable information to the Jurupa Valley Chamber of Commerce, which is where I found and repurposed it for my blog. But WMWD wasn't really the newsmaker here, just the employer of the bad press release writers.
I also have to find fault with WMWD for the format of this press release. It's a PDF. That means in order for anyone to use it, they have to RETYPE the information. They cannot just copy and paste, then make the necessary edits. That's not a horribly bad thing in this case, because there are so many edits needed it might be best to start from scratch.
If you are a small business owner, your story may not directly affect everyone in a city of 100,000 like Western Municipal Water District's story does. Western Municipal Water District's story does. So you're going to want to make sure you send out a well-written story. You're going to want to make sure that you and your business are recognized as an important part of that story. And you're going to want to make it as easy as you can for the journalists to decide they want to use your press release.
I know what a journalist wants because before first starting my freelance writing business in 2003 (before my public relations career began) I worked as a reporter and newspaper editor. I faced a stack of press releases every day, far more than would fit in the space I had to work with. I quickly decided which ones made the cut, and which ones didn't. WMWD's, most days, would not have. Had this instead been a small business owner's press release commenting on other people's news, it almost surely would not have.
Don't let that happen to you. Make a small investment and let this former journalist tell your story to those who still work in journalism. I get them. They'll get me. You'll get coverage and you'll get customers.
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