A press release is a formal written communication distributed to news media outlets to announce something newsworthy about an organization, product, or event. Its primary purpose is to secure media coverage by presenting information in a standardized, easily digestible format that journalists expect. Adhering to the established structure signals professionalism and respect for the reporter’s time. This guide outlines the formatting standards that ensure your announcement is considered for publication.
Setting the Stage: Release Timing and Contact Information
The very top margin of the document must begin with a clear designation that informs the media when the information is permissible for publication. This designation is typically the phrase “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” capitalized and centered or flush left. If the news is meant to be held until a specific time, the document must instead state, “EMBARGOED UNTIL [Date and Time],” providing the precise moment the content becomes public.
Immediately following the release timing designation, the full contact information for media inquiries must be prominently displayed. This block should include the name, title, organization, direct phone number, and email address of the designated media relations representative. Providing these details ensures journalists can quickly follow up for quotes or additional information.
The Attention Grabbers: Headline and Subhead
The headline captures the journalist’s immediate attention and must be formatted distinctly from the rest of the text. It should be centered, written in bold type, and use the present tense to convey immediacy and current relevance. The headline must succinctly summarize the entire announcement in fewer than 100 characters, functioning like a newspaper title.
A subhead, if used, appears directly beneath the main headline and provides a single line of secondary detail that expands upon the primary message. This element is typically formatted in a slightly smaller font size or italicized to differentiate it visually from the bold headline and the standard body text.
Structuring the Narrative Body
The official text of the announcement begins immediately with the dateline, which formally establishes the geographical origin of the news. The dateline is formatted as the City, followed by the two-letter State abbreviation, a dash, and then the full date of the release, all preceding the first sentence of the news copy. For example, the dateline might read: CHICAGO, IL – November 7, 2025.
The body of the press release must strictly follow the “inverted pyramid” structure, a standard journalistic convention. This means the single most important piece of information—the who, what, where, and why—must be contained entirely within the first paragraph. Subsequent paragraphs then provide supporting details, context, and secondary facts in descending order of importance, ensuring the story remains intact even if a reporter must cut text from the bottom.
Quotes are integrated within the narrative to provide human context and commentary, and they must identify the speaker’s full name and formal title upon the first reference. The quotes should be presented as concise, direct statements that offer opinion or interpretation, rather than simply restating the facts already detailed in the preceding paragraphs. The final paragraph of the narrative body generally contains the least important, but still relevant, background information that wraps up the context of the announcement.
Mandatory Closing Elements
Once the news narrative is complete, the document requires an end notation to signal to the journalist that no further body text follows. This mark is typically a centered “###” or “-30-” and must be placed two double-spaces below the final line of the news copy. This signal prevents any confusion about whether the release continues onto another page.
The next element is the Boilerplate, which functions as an “About Us” section for the organization. This paragraph is a succinct, two-to-three-sentence summary detailing the company’s mission, history, and industry position, and it remains consistent across all releases. The boilerplate provides background context for reporters unfamiliar with the organization.
Following the boilerplate, the media contact information should be repeated. This redundancy is a practical convenience for journalists who may print the release and need the contact details quickly. This final block ensures the reporter has the necessary follow-up information located right next to the organization’s background summary.
The Final Polish: Technical Formatting Standards
The visual presentation of the press release must adhere to professional document settings. Standard, clean fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri should be used, set at a recommended size of 10-point or 12-point. Maintaining one-inch margins on all sides provides necessary white space and prevents the document from appearing overly dense.
Industry convention often dictates that the body text be double-spaced, especially for releases distributed directly to newsrooms for editing, though single-spacing is common for web distribution. When submitting the file, the preferred formats are universally either a PDF or a standard DOCX file, ensuring the formatting remains consistent across different operating systems and editorial software.