How to talk to the press

Public Relations rely heavily on the press: PR persons spend most of their time connecting and maintaining good relations with the press.

Which means a lot of PR persons flood a few editors with many press releases all the time, hence the importance of issuing a well-executed press release.

1. be concise: choose a clear and descriptive headline and place the most important information at the beginning of the press release
2. be factual: stick to provable facts, avoid unsubstantiated claims and answer concrete questions
3. be focused: target the media and the audience you're addressing, and adapt your vocabulary to these targets
4. be specific: highlight the key message, order the facts and ensure the message is understood
5. be interesting: tell a story your targets will relate to, and keep it accurate, cohesive and newsworthy

And obviously be reachable (person to contact, email, phone number, website) and updated (make sure you have the latest facts in your hands).