Umar
Farouk
Jurusan
Administrasi Niaga, Politeknik Negeri Semarang
Jl.
Prof.H.Sudarto, SH, Tembalang,Kotak Pos 6199/SMS Semarang 50061
ABSTRAK
Menulis press release manjadi bagian penting dalam kegiatan public relations dalam organisasi bisnis
dalam rangka menciptakan citra positif organisasi. Oleh sebab itu diperlukan pengetahuan dan
ketrampilan yang memadai untuk menulis press
release. Disamping teknik dan kiat
menulis press release harus
dipelajari, hubungan yang baik dengan media masa (press relations) harus pula dibangun. Dalam penulisan press
release dapat dipelajari teknik-teknik penulisan yang bersifat umum (general techniques) dan khusus (specific techniques). Agar sebuah press release dapat dibuat menjadi
berita yang lengkap dan menarik diperlukan backgrounder.
Kata-kata
kunci:
press
release; public relations; press
relations; genera techniques;
specific techniques, backgrounder
INTRODUCTION
In doing public relations programs one of the many
things which Public Relations has to do in creating its most important mission,
that is creating positive image, is initiating and maintaining press relations.
Press relations can be well maintained if a company, by means of its Public
Relations Department, always makes a good contact with mass media including its
journalists and managers, especially the Head of Editors. Many companies find it difficult to publish
its publicities and press releases because of the lack of good relations with
the mass media. One of the reasons why a press release is denied by mass media to publish is because of
the above reason. Another reason is
because the company does not understand the way to write an acceptable press
release.
In general for a company writing a press release is
regarded as the easiest and the most efficient way to declare the events
happening in the company, for press release can be shortly written and has some
superiorities such as more actual,
economical, and factual. A
picture or photograph can also be included to make it more informative and
interesting.
In a day a company can produce as many press
releases as needed and it can distribute them to local, national, regional, and
international journalists or mass media. This becomes more possible when
electronic mail (E-mail) is available at hand. Now, press release takes a great
role to enable a company get its reputation, best image and linked with its
publics, which is very strategic for its sustainable business development.
A press release can be written for different
purposes depending on its target audiences.
Financial press release, for instance, is written for potential investors.
Product press release is written for consumers and customers. Informative press
release, on the other hand, is prepared for publics in general.
Considering the important roles of a press release
to create the positive image of a company, and of course will make its
business develop better, it is necessary
to discuss the techniques and tips of press release writing. Supposed it is theoretically and technically
understood, more press releases can be published in mass media, both printed
and electronic. Thus, it is beneficial.
Experts’
Statements about Press Release
McIntyre (2008: 11) states that the number of public response to
news releases compared to advertisements is 9: 1. Thus financially it is more profitable to spend money to produce
a press release rather than to prepare an advertisement to sell a company’s
products. In one example , a computer
software company paid $6,000 to advertise a new software program in a national
computer magazine. The company received
100 responses to this advertisement. In another similar computer magazine the
same software program was given a free
favourable editorial review. This review resulted in nearly 900 inquiries.
What is
described above is if the news releases are written professionally meaning that
they follow some accepted rules of press
release writing. Philip C. Kolin (2010:
423) reminds that there are some topics
which are not suggested to be published
as a press release. These are those topics:
1.
Well-known services or products. Do not repeat the obvious.
2.
Products or services still in the planning
stages. Not only would such news be
premature but releasing it ahead of time might meet with our boss’s severe
disapproval, not to mention our competition’s delight.
3.
Controversial events or company problems. Refrain from writing a news
release on these subjects unless our boss instructs to do so.
4.
A history of our department, division, or company. Save remarks about our firm’s history for the annual reports to stakeholders.
5.
An obviously padded tribute to our boss or to our company or to our customers.
The reasons why
the mentioned topics are not suggested to write a release is that they are not
news-worthy. They are the kinds of old and tired news. Therefore, not every event or change in a
company will warrant a release. Keep also in mind that things in the works may
as yet be too new to announce.
Figure 1 is the format of a press release.
Figure 1. Format of a Press Release
Bradley (2007: 64) states that
press releases are written to create publicity and awareness for a company.
They are also known as public relations releases, news releases, or press
statements. Press releases are different from ‘real’ news. Press releas subjects among others are new
product announcements, the creation of a new company, executive management
changes, partnerships and alliances, trade show product debuts, or a subtle
selling document on what is different
about a company.
Press releases can be
broadcasted to their on line media
subsribes by utilizing news wire services like magazines, radio stations, local
and national newspapers, television stations, and individual companies. News
releases are also mailed, e-mailed and faxed directly to the media contacts.
General
Techniques
Writing a press release sometimes
becomes difficult to do if someone knows no theories about press release
writing, no writing skill, and no
relations with mass media. Therefore, it
is obligatory that everyone working in Public Relations learn seriously how to write a good press
release and know how to communicate with mass media effectively to publish it.
Learning how to write an
interesting press release perhaps generally needs no long time. For employees
having Public Relations education background of course it is not a kind
of problem. The bigger problem often rises when they do not have a good relation
with mass media. It is quite important
for them to begin making friend with journalists or mass media professionals.
This can be started by inviting them, for example to have a press tour in their
companies and asking them to enjoy a
press lunch which is initiated by their companies. They also need to invite them to come to the
companies to take parts in the companies’ special events. Besides enjoying the special events, they
also can take benefits of the invitation to write a publicity or news. This results in mutualistic cooperation. They are facilitated to do their journalistic
works and the companies’ image is positively promoted through newspapers,
magazines, radios, televisions and many other mass media channels.
Many new Public Relations
officers are confused to differentiate between making a press release and a product advertisement. In a press release they may include
financial, product, and basic publicity information. Although it is possible to make a product
press release, what makes it different is in a press release it is not allowed
to promote directly the product. They cannot say: ‘ buy it now!’, big discount
!’, ‘ take it and you will get big benefits!’ and some other similar ways of
promotion. In a press release it is
suggested that only facts and data of products are delivered to publics. Thus, a press release is not intended to
persuade potential consumers to buy a
company’s products but to create a positive image of the products. If promotional words are used, like what are
mentioned above, then it is classified
as a product advertisement and it will be written in a diiferent style of
business communication. Mass media will
get payments from it, for it prepared for direct commercial business
purposes. For a small and little space
of a newspaper’s columns a company needs to provide millions of rupiahs. On the
contrary, for a product press release, there is no commercial payment charged.
Illustrations should also be
included in a good press release. The benefits of including the illustrations
among others, it can make the press release more interesting and it can
dilivered more messages. Therefore, it helps to make a shorter press release.
As it is generally known that an illustration like a photograph or a picture
can state more messages than words or sentences. A brief press release can save
more spaces. Wordy press release is not good.
A company has to take into account in their press releases what is
called word economy. Mass media consider this matter as one of important criteria
to publish. Besides a long press release will be surely cut by editors in much of its
content, it is also more possible to be wasted in a rubbish tin. Editors generally do not like a wordy press
release.
Sometimes people are of the
opinion that preparing a press release does not need a serious effort as in the
long run a journalist or en editor will make it better for them to
publish. This is not a propper right
behaviour. Though, a journalist or an
editor help them to publish the press releasse but the press release which is
not well written will be possibly ignored.
A good press release will help a journalist or an editor to save time to
shorten it, if necessary, by deleting some unimportant words, sentences and
even paragraphs. A good press release generallly has important messages in the beginning
parts of the whole content or body because it follows the rule of an inverted
pyramid. It confirms that a serious
writing effort is quite necessary.
In editing a press release, a
journalist or an editor very often needs some additional information, which is
not available in the press release. It possibly happens because the perception
of a journalist or an editor can be different from the perception of a company
in terms of how to provide a piece of hard
news in mass media. That is why it is necessary for a company to send a
backgrounder beside the press release. A
backgrounder will provide information related to the background of an event, a
product launching, and much other extra relevant information, facts, and data to make it easy for the journalist and editor
to rewrite the press release in
accordance with his journalistic taste. This can change the press release into
a piece of valuable news.
Beyond the above explanation, as
a press release is a kind of a written communication it must follow the
principle of written communication (Zuhdi, 2011: 88-90), which is called seven
C’s, as follows:
1.
Completeness
2.
Conciseness
3.
Consideration
4.
Concreteness
5.
Clarity
6.
Courtesy
7.
Correctness
Completeness means that the
information of a press release must be complete to deliver the needed message.
Conciseness means that the information must be accurate. No mistaken information is written. Consideration obliges a press release writer
to think about the worthiness of written information. Does it have a news value? Concreteness means that the information is
written on the basis of facts and data.
Clarity indicates that the sentences used are easily understood. Courtesy indicates that the words used are
polite and give respect to readers. The
last, correctness obliges that all press releases are wriitten in the right way
by following grammatical principles of language use and standardized typing.
A journalist or
editor of mass media often needs some additional information to compose a good
press release. Therefore, it is better to send also a backgrounder for a press
release. A backgrounder can inform something like the history of a product or a
company, some relevant events happening in the company, the awards received by the company, financial
statements of the company and so forth.
Specific
Techniques
In addition to the above
mentioned general techniques of press release writing there are some specific
techniques which should be paid attention to produce a high quality of press
release. The followings are some
specific techniques which can be utilized:
1.
Begin a press release with an
interesting ‘provocative’ title. Make it
short, informative, and stimulating publics to be curious about the content of
the press release.
2.
Write
a date line in the left side, above the first paragraph and under the
title. The date line consists of the location or place and the date of the
press release. For instance, Jakarta,
26/7/13. The date line may also mention
the name of the newspaper. For instance, SM, 25/4/13. (SM stands for Suara
Merdeka).
3.
Write a press release by answering 5 W + 1 H + 1 V + 1 S
questions. It means when a press release
is sent to mass media it must accommodate information covering what, who, when,
where, why, and how questions related to the message in the press release. The other next two questions are whether the
message is valuable and secure to publish.
4.
Write a press release by following the
rule of inverted pyramid. This means that the most important information is
given a priority to be witten firstly and followed by other less important
information.
5.
Write a press release with Times New
Roman or Garamond font and the size of the font is 12. It is obvious to read.
6.
Use double space. It facilitates a journalist or an editor to make corrections
or give necessary notes.
7.
In the end of the last sentence of the
last paragraph type ###.
8.
Do not forget to write your name, your
company, your phone number, and e-mail after the press release supposed the
mass media need to contact you.
9.
Give a note if the press release is
exclusive for certain mass media. For example: Exclusive for Suara
Merdeka.
10.
If possible put an illustration such as
a photograph. It helps to make a press release more interesting, informative,
communicative, and compact.
As computers are
now widely operated and the presence of internet to support business
communication is positively giving opportunities for business organizations to
create outstanding image, on line press releases are now as dominant as printed
press releases.
Using on
line press releases the information of a company’s products and services can
spread even faster. Press releases can
be published by facebook, Linkedin,
Twitter, Blog, and many others.
CONCLUSION
Writing a press release is not
difficult to do. Though, as a matter of fact, there are many press releases discarded into a rubbish
tin, it does not mean that many people cannot write it. What makes this happen is that many do not
give serious attention to the above discussed general and specific techniques.
They manipulate their own ways of writing which are not professionally
recommended.
Professional mass media will only
cooperate with professional press release writers. Willy or nilly, that is the
fact, isn’t it?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jackson, John Bradley, 2007, First, Best, or Different: What Every
Entrepreneur Needs to Know About Niche Marketing, Dog Ear Publishing,
Indianapolis, USA
Kolin, Philip C,
2010, Successful Writing
at Work (Ninth Edition), Cengage Learning: USA
McIntyre, Catherine V, 2008, Writing
Efffective News Releases: How to Get
Free Publicity for
Yourself, Your Business, or Your Organization, Piccadilly
Books, Ltd: USA
Zuhdi, Umar Farouk, 2011, Komunikasi Bisnis: Pemahaman Secara Mudah,
Wahana Totalita Publisher: Yogyakarta
www.googlew.com/search?q=press+release&hl=id&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&biw=1360&bih=677&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=pi&ei=RFmTUfwCiN
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