Catapult Public Relations

Hold the Attachments

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:39:01 +0000

The proliferation of computer viruses and worms has made everyone leery of opening email attachments, even if the message is from someone they know. Some magazines have installed software that automatically removes attachments before forwarding the message to the intended recipient, but more often than not the entire email will simply be deleted. What that means for PR professionals is that they should always paste their releases in the body of their emails when sending them out to reporters. If there's an image to go with the release, let them know that artwork is available upon request.

Advisory or News Release?

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:45:34 +0000

Not sure if your news should be in the form of a media advisory or news release? Here are a couple of guidelines to follow:

A media advisory is usually an alert sent to the press about an upcoming event. It describes Who, What, When, Where and How the event will take place in the form of brief paragraphs.

A news release is a more descriptive piece about a new product, personnel or newsworthy change within a company.

www.catapultpr-ir.com

Read the (Journalists’) Bible

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:32:18 +0000

First published in 1975 and updated annually, the Associated Press Stylebook remains the journalists' bible for editorial standards. It provides clear, consistent and simple rules on how to handle technical terms, abbreviations, punctuation, spelling, capitalization and more.

PR pros should abide by the rules of this invaluable guide when writing pitches, news releases, bylined articles and white papers. Have a copy of the AP Stylebook on your desk and refer to it often. Okay? No! According to the Stylebook, it's not okay, it's OK.