Media Releases form an important part of any career in media. Through this assessment you will learn how to communicate with other journalists and professionals in your space. In the process developing skills in academic and media research, documentation, as well as, clear, logical, and convincing writing.
Task Description ✏️
The company you work for is about to launch a new product, you must write a Media Release to share with Journalists and media professionals in your space.
Additional Information 📚
To help you complete this task successfully, the following resources are provided:
Marking Rubric — refer to this to understand how you will be assessed
Checklist: How to write a Media Release — use this to help you complete the task
Example: Media Release — review this to see a completed example of the task
Checklist: How to write a Media Release ✅
Please copy + paste this checklist into your Notes, ticking off each task as you go.
Step 1: Task Understanding
To help you understand what you need to do for this task and how will be assessed, you must:
Read the Instructions including this Checklist carefully
Read the Marking Rubric
Step 2: Plan Media Release
To help you plan your Media Release, jot down dot points under each heading of this Media Release template:
Contact information: add your company’s contact details on the right-hand side
Headline: this is a short, attention-getting statement about the event
Deck: or subheadings, these give your press release more substance with more insights to your story.
Dateline: this is the beginning of your body paragraph and is where you add the date and location(in capital letters) and then a dash(—): e.g. HOBART, AUSTRALIA, February 15th —(body paragraph)
First Body Paragraph: this is where you answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. This should be about stating the facts.
Remainder Body Paragraph: this is where you sum up the headline and story you introduced in the first body paragraph. You can add media, hyperlinks and quotes here.
Boilerplate: add any factual information about your company, ie. what it does.
Final note: add your contact to help anyone who wants to get more information from you.
Step 3: Submit Draft
Submit your Media Release plan(as a draft) before the tutorial
Step 4: Peer Review
To make sure you’re on the right track, it helps to discuss what you’ve done with others and get feedback — we’ll do this in a tutorial:
Engage in a discussion with your peers about your release, sharing valuable sources and tips. More instructions will be provided in-class.
Review your Media Release plan, making changes based on the discussion
Step 5: Write Release
Building on your plan, write your Media Release. Things to remember:
News angle/s: ensure that your news angles are well identified
Important details: ensure you include all important information about the event
Identify spokesperson: clearly identify the spokesperson with contact details and quotes
Clear and concise writing: use short simple sentences and familiar terms(and no errors!)
Purpose 🎯
Task Description ✏️
Additional Information 📚
Checklist: How to write a Media Release ✅