Our September Skills Training featured Skip Wood and Erick Mack of Public News Service, who offered advice for many good questions that members had about press releases, reaching reporters, and working with the media.

Before the training, both editors contributed a series of training documents to our training center on press releases and story telling.

You’ve crafted an award-winning press packet – all the information the media will ever need for your big event. But it only gets a couple inches in the paper, or a big storm arrives the same day your packet comes in the mail and the storm is the only thing that gets coverage. And even if you do attract some media, you’re disappointed because they left so much out!

The attached diagram from Skip Wood at Public News Service is an excellent visual framework of being strategic in the structure and framework of your press releases.
It includes many of the essential aspects including header, paragraphs, bullet points, and the strategic inclusion of additional information.

Key Components to Telling Your Story (and Getting the Press and Public to Listen) ...Form and Function (Design and Content)
Part 3 of 3
-Eric Mack

Key Components to Telling Your Story (and Getting the Press and Public to Listen)...Going to The Dark Side, and Coming Back
Part 2 of 3
Eric Mack, Public News Service

Skip Wood has been with Public News Service for ten years, first as producer/reporter and currently as editor. For the last eight years, he has also been a producer for "Hear It Now," a talk show on the Prairie Public radio network, a PBS affiliate. Before all that, he was news producer for KXJB-TV, Fargo for 21 years.