Writing press releases

1
Writing press releases

• Story selection
• Tips on writing
• How to get your press release noticed
• Distribution

2
What makes a story?

• Novel
• Breakthrough
• Quirky
• Controversial/risk
• Topical
• Proximity

3
Writing tips

• Science writing often requires a lot more
  imagination than straight reporting
• Structure
• Language
• Accuracy

4
Structure

• Intro
• The payoff
• Killer quote
• Background
• Contextualising the story
• Why does this matter to the reader/ how will it
  affect their life?

5
Fabled equatorial icecaps to disappear

• Fabled equatorial icecaps will disappear within
  two decades because of global warming, a study
  led by UCL (University College London) has found.
• Reporting online in the journal Geophysical
  Research Letters, the first survey in a decade of
  glaciers in the Rwenzori Mountains, East Africa,
  has found that an increase in air temperature
  over the last four decades has contributed to a
  substantial reduction in glacial cover.

6

• The Rwenzori Mountains also known as the
  Mountains of the Moon straddle the border
  between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the
  Republic of Uganda and are home to one of four
  remaining tropical icefields outside of the
  Andes. They are also home to spectacular and rare
  Afroalpine flora and fauna. The mountains
  legendary status was set during the 2nd century
  when the Greek geographer Ptolemy made the
  seemingly preposterous but ultimately accurate
  claim of snow-capped mountains at the equator in
  Africa The Mountains of the Moon whose snows
  feed the lakes, sources of the Nile.

7
Writing science news

• Atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposited
  of tungsten doped vanadium (iV) oxide from VOCl3,
  water and WCl6
• What made it a story?
• - new research with application
• - timely for UK summer
• - improves quality of life

8
How to get your press release noticed

• Clarity
• Layout
• Timing
• Headline

9
Distribution

• Keep your contact lists comprehensive and
  current
• Use gateway sites