A month ago, The Middletown Press was asked to send a staff member to help teach a group of nonprofit community leaders how to write and submit material for the news media. We were also asked to provide a write-up that people could take home with them.

Since we value all submissions we get from our audience, but because we have limited space, limited staff and limited amount of time to spend on editing and selecting submissions, I want to share these guidelines with all of you. My goal is that all of you will eventually feel confident sending us press releases, calendar listings, photos and small write-up from various places across Middlesex County - especially from places our staff rarely has time to visit.

How to write/submit press releases

• Assign one media person in charge of sending out releases – don’t have multiple people sending them out as it can get very confusing.
• Send all releases by e-mail – don’t use fax machines or regular mail as someone would then have to retype what you already typed.
• Include a specific town – preferably in the subject line of the e-mail or the first sentence. If you say “Middletown resident” it will immediately get picked up by a responsible Middletown reporter/editor. If you say “area group” or “local student” and we can’t figure out what the local angle is in the first sentence or two, your press release will most likely get deleted.
• Don’t send text attachments unless necessary – it just creates an extra step for the person on the receiving end vs. including the text in the body of your e-mail.
• Photos should be sent as attachments – All photos should be sent in .jpg format. Make sure to include – in the body of the e-mail – the names of all people in the photo. Do not embed photos in a Word document or in the body of the e-mail.
• Include all the basic information – Who, what, when, where and a phone number in case people have questions.
• Don’t offer too much extraneous information – If it was a snowy day, was that really relevant to your event? One option is to provide a shorter version, like a calendar item, and a longer version for optional use in the same e-mail, clearly indicated as two separate items.
• Write the release in third person – avoid using words like “we” and “us” and “our meeting.” Instead say “The group will meet at…” or “It has four new members this year.”
• Avoid subjectivity at all cost – i.e. “This is a wonderful event” or “a good time was had by all.” Adjectives in general are unnecessary (“great,” “wonderful,” “beautiful,” “powerful”) and will most likely get cut.
• Cut out the extra zeros – Times should be written like this: 4 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. Ticket prices were $8 or $10.50. There is no need for zeros – zeros mean nothing.
• Sending corrections – If you need to send a corrected press release, re-send the entire notice but indicate at the top what has been corrected in case the submission has already been used.
• Following up – If your release is timely, follow up with a phone call to the local newsroom, but don’t expect a return phone call if everything is OK.
• Learn to take “No” for an answer – if your event is not in our local coverage area, it will most likely not be included. It’s nothing personal; it’s just what makes the most sense to our audience.
• Spread the word – If someone posts a story about your group or event on the web, Facebook or Twitter, share it with your friends and other people in your organization by reposting, retweeting or just e-mailing a link to someone.
• REMEMBER: The easier you make it for the local media, the likelier it is that they will include what you have submitted.