4. Press release rules

The constraints set out above help us to understand a few common-sense rules. What interests you doesn't necessarily interest readers. The first reader is the journalist: he or she needs precise, unpublished facts. Write your text for the medium you're addressing, but don't assume that the journalist will copy it verbatim.

Keep it short. Lineage is precious in a newspaper. The basic unit of account for print media is the leaflet: 25 lines of 60 characters, single-sided. Put the main message at the top of the page in the very first sentences.

Check that you're answering the classic questions of the QQOQCP (who, what, where, when, how, why?) or, more trivially, the QQCCOQP (who, what, how, how much, where, when, why?). Write self-contained paragraphs, with a single idea per paragraph. Keep sentences and paragraphs short and to the point....