6.4 News Release Structure and Format

News releases are sometimes written on company letterhead, with the words “News Release” at the top left corner of the page, however for most applications, releases are sent directly to journalists by email or via a newswire service like Canada Newswire and the formatting is just simple text.

The body of the news release should be written using news writing techniques and style. Be sure to include a headline (often 14 pt bold); you also may include a subheadline which is normally written as a single sentence (12 pt), followed by dateline (location and date where the news is taking place), a summary lead paragraph and the body of the news release (12 pt or 11 pt unbolded). Foe example, below is the news release that was written and sent to media resulting in the CBC article referenced earlier. 

Be sure to use the inverted pyramid to organize the information throughout the news release. Include at least two quotes, one from the company or organization and another from a third party (example: customer, volunteer, current or former attendee at the event) if possible. After you’ve finished with the body, you can include boilerplate at the end of the document. The boilerplate provides information about the company or organization, similar to the “About Us” section that you might find on a company website.

The news release should be as concise as possible and ideally no longer than one page.