A news announcement written for journalists: the facts, two quotes and a contact on one page.
A press release has a fixed shape because reporters read dozens a day and know where to look. This page shows a finished one, for a bakery opening its third shop, and names its parts. It won't land in anyone's inbox. You still write to each reporter, and the link is what your email points to.
Who it's for
Small companies, nonprofits, schools and venues with something new to announce: an opening, a hire, a grant, an event. You send it to local reporters, trade editors and newsletter writers two or three weeks before the date.
Skip it when nothing has happened. A release about a new logo teaches a newsroom to ignore your name. And if the news is under embargo, put a password on the page until the day it lifts.
What a good one contains
- A headline that states the news. "Kettle Pond Bakery to open its third bakery in downtown Barre on February 6" could run as written.
- One line under it. The sample's adds what the headline had no room for: a storefront empty since 2021, 14 jobs, a stone mill.
- A dateline and a first paragraph that stands alone. City and date, then who, what, when and where in two sentences. An editor short on space cuts from the bottom.
- Two quotes from two people. The founder explains why Barre: her van has driven there every morning since 2023. The manager's is about walking to work. Neither of them is "thrilled".
- Figures a reporter can lift. 2,400 square feet, 22 seats, $410,000, 1,200 pounds of flour a week. The sample repeats them in a side column.
- Something to come and see. A preview on Thursday, February 4, with the mill running, gives a photographer a reason to turn up.
- An About paragraph. Three sentences on what you do, since when and how big. Reuse it on every release.
- A named contact who answers. Name, role, email and phone, plus a line on whether there's an embargo.
Before you send it
Read the first paragraph with the rest covered. If a stranger couldn't repeat your news from it, rewrite it first.
Check each number against its twin. The sample gives 14 jobs in the summary line, the story and the side column, and its 9 filled plus 5 open make 14. A reporter who finds two figures that disagree starts doubting the others.
Get the people you quote to approve their words. If a date slips after you've sent the link, change the page and add a dated correction under the headline. Anyone who already has the link sees the fix.
How to send it
As an open link. Journalists won't sign in or ask for a password to read your news. Put the same link in your pitch email and on your site, so everyone quotes one version.
Every page you publish gets one link that opens in any browser. You choose who can open it: anyone with the link, anyone with the password, or only the people and company domains you name, who sign in with Google or Microsoft. Change the page later and the link stays the same.
