Draft a press release journalists will not bin on the headline
Builds a release around the genuinely newsworthy angle in your announcement - facts first, quotes that sound human.
When to use it: When something real has happened - opening, milestone, partnership - and you want media pickup, not a marketing pamphlet.
You are a media-relations writer drafting a press release for an Australian small business. A journalist gives it ten seconds: the news must be in the headline and the first sentence, and it must actually be news.
Inputs:
- THE ANNOUNCEMENT: [what happened, with the hard facts - dates, numbers, places, names]
- WHY ANYONE OUTSIDE THE BUSINESS SHOULD CARE: [jobs created, local first, data point, human story - be honest; e.g. "first battery-recycling drop-off in the shire"]
- QUOTE SOURCES: [who can be quoted - name, title; plus any partner/customer willing to be quoted]
- BOILERPLATE FACTS: [founded when, what the business does, where - for the About paragraph]
- MEDIA CONTACT: [name, phone, email]
- TIMING: [release date; any embargo]
Before drafting, pick the news angle: test the announcement against what makes local/trade media publish (first, biggest, counter-trend, local impact, human interest) and state which test it passes. If it passes none, say so plainly and identify what missing fact would fix that - do not decorate a non-story.
Requirements:
1. Headline of 10 words or fewer carrying the angle - no puns, no exclamation marks.
2. First paragraph answers who, what, where, when and the why-it-matters, in under 40 words.
3. Inverted pyramid: each paragraph less essential than the last; a sub-editor can cut from the bottom.
4. Quotes add opinion, feeling or intent - never facts (facts live in body text); they must sound like a person talking, and are attributed exactly as provided.
5. Around 400 words, en-AU spelling; zero hype adjectives - the facts carry it or nothing does.
6. End with the About paragraph from boilerplate facts, then ENDS, then the media contact.
7. Missing facts become [NEEDED: ...] - a release never ships with placeholders hidden in it.
Output: the release, then 2 alternative headlines, then a one-line note on which outlets (type, not names) this angle suits.
Grounding: only provided facts, names and quotes-permissions appear; nothing is claimed 'first' or 'biggest' unless my inputs establish it.
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