Press release builder
A press release has a strict, time-tested format, and journalists notice immediately when it is wrong. The headline and first paragraph must carry the whole story, because that is often all an editor reads. This builder assembles a clean AP-style release — dateline, inverted-pyramid lead, supporting body with a quote, boilerplate and media contact — so your announcement looks professional and lands in a format reporters can use without rewriting.
Why format matters to journalists
Journalists receive hundreds of releases a day. A release that does not follow the standard structure signals that the sender does not understand how newsrooms work, which reduces the chance of coverage regardless of how newsworthy the story is. The AP style press release format has been standard for decades precisely because it lets an editor scan quickly and decide in seconds whether to pursue the story.
The two most common mistakes that kill coverage are leading with the company name rather than the news (“Acme is proud to announce…”), and burying the newsworthy fact in the third paragraph. A good lead paragraph should be so complete that a reader could stop there and still understand the entire announcement.
How it works
The builder follows the inverted-pyramid structure newsrooms expect:
- Dateline — City and date, in AP format, because it tells editors where and when the news is happening.
- Lead paragraph — Answers who, what, when, where and why in two or three tight sentences.
- Body — Supporting context and the executive quote. Quotes should contain opinion or vision, not facts. Reporters lift quotes; they rewrite facts.
- Boilerplate — A standard paragraph describing your company. Keep it under 80 words and update it quarterly.
- Media contact — Name, email, and phone number so a reporter on deadline can reach a real person within minutes.
- ### — Three centered hash marks, the traditional newsroom signal that the release is complete with no pages missing.
Worked example
A startup launching a product might structure the headline and lead like this:
Verdant Launches Carbon-Footprint Tracker for UK SMEs
LONDON, 14 July — Verdant, the climate-tech startup, today released a carbon-footprint tracking tool aimed at small and medium businesses seeking to meet UK net-zero reporting requirements. The app connects directly to energy accounts and auto-calculates emissions without manual data entry.
Notice: the company name comes after the product news, and the first sentence answers who (Verdant), what (carbon tracker), for whom (UK SMEs), and the implied why (net-zero reporting). The quote would follow in the next paragraph and would contain the founder’s view on why this matters, not a restatement of the feature set.
Distribution tips
Formatting is only the first step. Once the release is drafted, distribute it through the channels editors actually monitor — wire services, direct journalist outreach via email, and your own newsroom page. Publish the release on your website at a permanent URL so it can be found through search and linked by reporters writing follow-up stories. Always send plain-text email in addition to any attached PDF, because many journalists paste content directly into their CMS and prefer not to wrestle with attachments.