Media relations

The most successful press release that engages editor’s attention is advocacy press release, ‘ Daimler and its shareholders urged to seek repeal of Alabama’s racial profiling law’. The main reason is that it has good headline that raises one of the most important issues of contemporary America. It has huge ramifications for the people at large with good potential for story. Racial profiling and human rights violations, especially by the state are major concerns for the firms and people. The release is also impeccable in its format and follows all the rules of the press releases using succinct statements, subject line, vis-à-vis the 6Ws: who, what, when, where, why, who cares (Howard & Mathews, 2006). The first paragraph informs the people of the salient points and the rest follows it with clear history of the issue, giving links to the parties involved and to the organization concerned.
The least successful release is the one promoting new store opening. The main reason being that it is neither important for people in general nor does it have potential of a news worthy story. It is a local event that is best served by advertisement and not by a press release that would require further investigation or reporting. The release also has no headline/ subject line and is also not backed by hard figures of company’s sales and performance record. Cutler (2012) strongly believes that these are essential elements of public relation strategy that must be reflected in the press release. Moreover, it is full of generalities and advertising junk which fail to make it a news item worth reporting.
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Reference
Cutler, Zack. (13 Nov. 2012) 8 Tips for Writing a Great Press Release. Retrieved from: http://www. huffingtonpost. com/zach-cutler/press-release-tips_b_2120630. html
Howard, Carole M., & Mathews, Wilma M. (2006) On Deadline: Managing Media Relations (4th ed). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.