Writing press releases: preparing a press release

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Here are the steps:

• identification of information;
• verification with managers that the information is correct and up to date;
• identification of official pages on the site or creation of the same;
• preparation of a draft of the press release using a text editor;
• conversion of the press release into an HTML version, insertion of effects and links for further information;
• possible verification and approval by communications managers;
• production of a text-only version where links are replaced by clear indications.

The draft contains the four separate parts, making it easier to copy and paste them into the CMS of the circuits.

CMS means Content Management System and is a program for managing the content of a website or a publishing circuit.

Typical uses of CMS are for portals, dynamic sites, newspapers, and blogs.

In circuits that allow it, the HTML version will be copied and pasted, taken from the corresponding press release displayed in the browser.

In circuits that only allow text input, the prepared text version will be inserted, remembering to activate bold and italics where required.

Figure 1: draft of a press release in HTML version.

In the photo you see the HTML version of a press release draft.

You can notice the title, the strapline (in italics), and the text.
The tail, instead, is represented by the last three lines.

The strapline is in italics because, copied with the body into CMSs that do not have a separate strapline, it will appear as a preamble to the news.
For the same reason, the label ‘Body’ was not added.

The tail is not separated from the body, even though it is at the bottom, for the same reason.

In the text, it was chosen to put bold on the names of people because some of them are known in the field of Italian food and wine culture (Toni Sarcina is a well-known historian, writes for Famiglia Cristiana, and is the owner of one of the most important Italian cooking schools).

Wanting to highlight the event, but the name being quite long, it was decided to move the date to the strapline. The strapline, in this case, is seen as a true complement to the title and provides additional reference elements for the sector (Altopalato school, Milan, round table, tasting).

In the body, logistical information was deliberately avoided to leave maneuvering space for organizers and encourage visiting the page. It should be considered that, in this situation, the event was organized specifically to gain visibility, increase traffic, do branding, and encourage spontaneous links.

The links to Noon and PescaOk were deliberately placed near the end. This makes it easy to remove the two lines on circuits that have a link limit.

The example press release is slightly longer than what is normally done, but in this specific case there were some citation constraints for participants and sponsors.