Class 3: intro to press releases

The central point of today's session was that to write a good press release you need to consider what would make a good news story. Reading through the advice from Tim Radford I handed out last week should help, as will some of the content Sarah's discussing next week.

In terms of the more "nuts and bolts" issues we covered today, you should remember the "pyramidal format" (i.e. that you can cut a news story from the bottom up) and the need to clearly state the "what, why, who where, when and how" of the story as soon as possible. We also did an activity with a news story I had added words to, aiming to edit it back into decent news language (you can read the proper full version here).

Next week, Sarah will handout the first assignment, which is due the following week and asks you to write a press release. I handed out a few example press releases in class, it's worth looking at some before you write your own. UCL have a good press release archive. It's also worth googling science-rich universities and checking out AlphaGalileo. This has a database of research news from all over Europe, but (unless you are a journalist) you won't be able to access "notes for editors" or embargoed press releases.

Any questions - leave a comment or email me.