Sending the Press Release

Determine Target Media Outlets
In most instances, sending a blanket press release to every news outlet in the region is not necessary and may be a waste of both your time and a reporter/editor's time.

The best way to figure out who to send releases to is to research publications in your region and/or market and READ THEM! What are they interested in? What kind of news do they publish? Reading the publication will tell you a lot about what they cover.

If you are in a niche market or have an event or news that would be of interest to a specific audience, be sure to research special interest publications. For example, if your organization is putting on an outdoor summer art festival, look for art publications that publish information on festivals and events. Also, send releases to travel publications for your region. These often have calendars of events for tourists. In any case, think about which various audiences would be interested in your news and seek out publications that cater to your specific news AND audience.

After researching and reading publications in your region and market, you may wish to contact a specific "beat" reporter/editor (e.g., the business reporter) and talk with them about what kinds of news they would like to receive, how they want to receive it (e-mail, fax or mail?), and their regular deadlines. See "Getting Contact Names" below.

Get Contact Names
Many publications list their editors and reporters names, numbers and e-mails within the publication. If you choose to use a reporter or editor's name on a press release address rather than title ("Mary Jones" vs. "Business Editor"), be sure to update your media contact list every couple of months. Newspapers, especially, experience frequent staff rotation and turnover, and most reporters/editors are irked when they get press releases addressed to a person who hasn't worked in that position for a long time.

Select Medium
The easiest way to determine how to send your press release to ask the publication, media outlet or reporter/editor. Many publications also publish information on how to send news releases. Every outlet is different -- some news agencies want information faxed, some want e-mail, some want photos and others don't accept any company-provided photos or images. When in doubt, mail the press release to the news agency.