How to Write a Press Release: Steps, Format + Template

A press release is a short, factual announcement written for editors and reporters, not for advertising. To write one, put the news in the first two sentences, add a plain headline, one approved quote, the supporting facts, an about paragraph and contact details, and keep it to one page. Editors judge it in seconds, so clarity beats cleverness.

If you would rather fill in a form than start from a blank page, our press release builder walks through the same parts. This guide teaches the process behind it: the eight parts, a worked example, the rules for embargoes and datelines, and the mistakes that get a release ignored.

We are Reputation Resolutions. Our PR services include writing and distributing releases, scoped in writing, and we are not a law firm, so nothing here is legal advice. Plenty of teams write their own releases, and this guide is built for them. Nothing here promises that any editor will use a release.

What a press release is, and what it is not

A press release is a document that announces something new and checkable: a product, a hire, a partnership, an award, an event, a finding, a change in leadership or a response to events. Its reader is a busy person deciding whether the news affects their audience. If the answer is no, a polished layout will not save it.

Purdue University's writing lab makes the same point: a release should carry new or useful information for its audience, and it should not read like an advertisement. Promotional claims such as discounts belong in a notes section, not the headline. That is a useful test. If your draft reads like a sales page, it is not ready.

A release is not the same thing as a media advisory, which invites reporters to an event and says little else (see our media advisory template). It is also not a pitch, which is the short email that points a reporter to your story (see our media pitch template). And it is not editorial coverage. Coverage is when an editor chooses to write about you. A release is something you publish, and nobody has to pick it up.

The eight parts of a press release

Newsrooms read thousands of these in the same shape, so the structure below is worth following. Purdue's guide and our own editing experience agree on the broad order: main idea first, contact details clear, and an unmistakable end.

• 1. Release status line

  What goes in it

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, or an embargo line with date, time and time zone

  Common mistake

  Leaving it out, or embargoing news that does not need it

• 2. Headline

  What goes in it

  One line that states the news in plain words

  Common mistake

  Slogans, hype or a headline that names no news

• 3. Dateline

  What goes in it

  City in capitals, then state or country, then the date

  Common mistake

  Wrong date or a city unrelated to the news

• 4. Lead paragraph

  What goes in it

  Who, what, when, where and why in two sentences

  Common mistake

  Starting with company history

• 5. Body and quote

  What goes in it

  Supporting facts in order of importance, plus one approved quote

  Common mistake

  Invented or unapproved quotes

• 6. Boilerplate

  What goes in it

  A short, factual about paragraph, kept consistent

  Common mistake

  Superlatives and sales language

• 7. Media contact

  What goes in it

  Name, email and phone of a person who will answer

  Common mistake

  A general inbox nobody watches

• 8. End mark

  What goes in it

  ### or END centered below the last line

  Common mistake

  Running on into notes and attachments

1. Release status line. Most releases say FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE at the top. If the news is under embargo, say so here and give the exact date, time and time zone. More on that below.

2. Headline. State the news the way you would say it to a colleague. “Alder & Finch Opens Free Year-End Records Clinics for Freelancers” works because it says who and what. A headline that could sit above any company’s release says nothing.

3. Dateline. The dateline puts the city in capital letters, then the state or country and the date, followed by a hyphen or colon, and the first sentence continues on the same line. Use the city where the news originates or where your organization is based, and make the date match the day you send.

4. Lead. The Purdue lab’s companion guide on leads says to decide which of the who, what, when, where, why and how matters most and put that first, saving the rest for the second or third sentence. If a reader stops after two sentences, they should still have the news.

5. Body and quote. Add supporting facts in descending order of importance: details, dates, how to take part, and why it matters to the reader. One short quote from a named person adds a human voice. It should say something a fact sheet cannot, such as why the decision was made, not “we are thrilled.” Every quote must be approved by the person quoted before you send.

6. Boilerplate. This is a short about paragraph that says what the organization does, for whom and where, with facts a reporter can check. Keep it identical across releases so it stays consistent. Our guide to the press release boilerplate covers wording and updating it.

7. Media contact. Give a real person, an email address and a phone number. Purdue’s guide suggests listing all the ways to reach that person. The contact may differ from the company’s general contact, and that is fine.

8. End mark. Close with ### or END so the reader knows nothing is missing. Purdue’s guide uses “Ends” in bold, followed by “For further information, please contact” and the details. Put any extra notes after the contact block, not before it.

A worked example (hypothetical)

The example below is invented for illustration. The company, the person and the quote do not exist, and numbers are left as placeholders on purpose. A real quote must be written or approved by the person it is attributed to, and every number must be checked against your records.

- Status line: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

- Headline: Alder & Finch Bookkeeping Opens Free Year-End Records Clinics for Local Freelancers

- Dateline and lead: [CITY, STATE], [Month Day, Year]: Alder & Finch Bookkeeping, a [city]-based bookkeeping firm, will host three free year-end records clinics for freelancers and sole proprietors at [location] on [dates]. Each session starts at [time], and registration is open at [web address].

- Body: The clinics cover what to gather before filing season, how to sort business and personal expenses, and which questions to bring to a tax professional. Attendees do not need to be clients. Seating is limited to [number] per session, and walk-ins will be seated if space allows.

- Quote: “Freelancers often find out in March what they should have saved in January,” said [Name], [title] at Alder & Finch. “These clinics are a chance to sort it out while there is still time.”

- Boilerplate: About Alder & Finch Bookkeeping: [Two sentences stating what the firm does, who it serves and where, with one fact a reporter can verify.]

- Contact: [Name], [email], [phone]

- End mark: ###

Notice what the example leaves out. There is no “leading provider,” no “innovative,” no claim that cannot be checked. Notice also that the lead holds the entire announcement, so an editor who reads two sentences can decide whether to go on.

Embargo and dateline rules

Embargo. An embargo is a request that the news not be published before a stated date and time. It is a courtesy, not a law, and it only holds if the recipient agrees to it before you send the details. Put the date, the time and the time zone at the top, for example EMBARGOED UNTIL [time, time zone, date]. Do not send embargoed news to a long list and hope, because anyone who has not agreed is free to publish.

Use an embargo when a reporter needs lead time to prepare, such as a report or study they must read first. Skip it for routine announcements. Purdue’s guide goes further and says not to use embargoed releases, because outlets may not hold them and may not use the release at all. Our view is narrower: an embargo is a tool for reporters who asked for time, not a default.

Dateline. Match the city to where the news originates, spell the state or country out in the style your target outlets use, and make the date the date of release. If you send on a Monday for an embargo lifting on Thursday, the release status line carries the embargo and the dateline carries the Thursday date. An old date in a dateline is one of the quickest ways to look careless.

Mistakes editors reject

These are our editorial judgment from drafting and reviewing releases, not a measured result.

- No news. An anniversary, a slogan or a new logo is rarely news to anyone outside the company. Ask what has changed that a stranger would care about.

- Buried lead. Two paragraphs of background before the announcement mean the reader is gone before the news arrives.

- Advertising language. Superlatives and promotional claims read as copy, not as news. Purdue’s guide says a release should not read like an advertisement.

- Unchecked claims. Every date, name, number and claim should be verified against a source you can point to. If you cannot check it, cut it.

- Invented or unapproved quotes. A quote is a statement by a real person. If they did not say or approve it, it does not belong.

- No usable contact. If a reporter cannot reach a person quickly, they will move on.

- Too long. Purdue’s guide says to get your point across in under a page and warns that more than two pages will likely be seen as a news article, not a release.

- Wrong audience. Sending a funding release to a reporter who covers local events wastes both your time and theirs.

The PRSA Code of Ethics asks members to adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth, which is a good rule for every line of a release. It also asks members to reveal the sponsors for causes and interests represented.

Drafting with an AI assistant

You can use an AI tool for a first draft, but treat the output as unverified. These tools can produce fluent text that includes wrong dates, invented figures and quotes nobody said. Verify every claim yourself, and get every quote approved by the person quoted before you send. Our guide to press release SEO has a short section on doing this safely.

Before you send: a checklist

- Does the first sentence contain the news?

- Is every name, date, number and claim checked against a source?

- Has each person quoted seen and approved their quote?

- Is the contact a real person who will answer?

- Is the embargo, if any, agreed with the recipients and written with date, time and time zone?

- Is anything paid or sponsored labeled the way readers can recognize?

- Is the release on one page, in plain text in the body of the email or on a page, not only an attachment?

After you send

A release does not pull coverage by itself. Publish it on your own website so there is a permanent, dated copy, and send a short, personal note to a few reporters who cover the topic, using the approach in our media pitch template. Judge success by what actually happened: who replied, what was published and what people did next. Our guide to PR measurement explains how.

If a release is distributed to a service that republishes it, remember that those republished copies are syndication, not editorial coverage. Our guide to press release SEO explains why and what that means for search.

When to get help

Consider outside help if you have news but no time to draft, if approvals are slow, or if you want a plan for who should see the announcement. Reputation Resolutions has worked on reputation and PR problems since 2013, is A+ BBB accredited and a Google Partner, and has clients in 40+ countries. Press release writing, distribution and outreach are scoped in writing, and we do not promise coverage, rankings or citations. See our press release writing and distribution page for what that includes.

A different product is a guaranteed featured article, which is a paid placement that you pay for only after it is live, and which is labeled the way the outlet labels sponsored content. It is not a press release and it is not editorial coverage. The terms are on our guaranteed featured articles page. For a broader plan, see what a PR firm does or our PR plan template.