Most press releases get ignored. In fact, journalists report dismissing about 87% of pitches as irrelevant to their audience, and most inboxes see hundreds of releases a week. That is the reality I keep coming back to whenever someone asks me how to write a press release that gets picked up.
The good news is that the releases that do earn coverage follow a clear pattern. After spending years working with small teams and watching what actually gets journalists to reply, I can tell you that the gap between ignored and published almost always comes down to structure, newsworthiness, and respect for the reporter’s time. This guide walks you through exactly how to produce a release a journalist wants to publish, not just file away.
Table of Contents
What Is a Press Release and Why It Matters
A press release is a short, formal document written to share newsworthy information with media outlets. It is formatted in AP style, follows the inverted pyramid structure, and answers the five W’s in the opening paragraph so a journalist can scan it in seconds.
The reason press releases still matter in 2026 is that they give reporters a clean, pre-packaged story. Journalists at trade outlets, business publications, and local newsrooms are busy. A well-built release saves them research time and earns a real shot at coverage. A poorly written one gets deleted in the same minute it arrives.
Three qualities separate a release that works from one that does not. It is newsworthy, it is structured for fast scanning, and it sounds like a human being actually wrote it. Everything in this guide feeds back to those three qualities.
What Counts as Newsworthy
Newsworthy means a reporter could imagine a real reader caring about this. Common newsworthy angles include a product launch, a funding round, a partnership, a major hire, an event, or a measurable milestone such as reaching 100,000 customers. If your announcement does not fall into one of those buckets, you can usually manufacture newsworthiness by pairing the announcement with a data point, an exclusive, or a clear tie to a current trend.
A simple test: imagine you saw your own release on the front page of a trade publication. Would the typical reader actually pause on it, or would they scroll past? If the answer is the second one, sharpen the angle before you send it.
How to Write a Press Release That Gets Picked Up: 8 Steps
The eight steps below are the same checklist I run before I send any release. They map directly to what journalists expect to see when they open a pitch.
Step 1: Start With the News, Not the Background
Lead with the news, not your company history. A common mistake is opening with “Founded in 2018, XYZ Corp is a leading provider of…” and only mentioning the actual news three paragraphs later. Flip it. The first sentence is the news. Everything else supports it.
Headlines with specific data outperform vague ones by up to 36%. Instead of “Company Launches New Product,” try “Acme Ships AI-Powered Forecasting Tool That Cuts Reporting Time by 47%.” Same news, vastly higher pickup odds.
Step 2: Write a Headline That Says Something Real
Keep your headline under 70 characters so it does not get cut off in Google search results, and under 55 characters if you want it to fit on a single line in most newsroom CMS previews. Use active verbs. Skip adverbs and hype words like “revolutionary” or “cutting-edge.” Highlight the news value, not the company name.
Here are a few examples that work:
- “[Brand] Raises $12M to Expand Climate-Tech Manufacturing in the Midwest”
- “[Brand] Hires Former NASA Engineer as Chief Technology Officer”
- “[Brand] Survey: 64% of Remote Workers Report Burnout Heading Into Q4”
Step 3: Add the Dateline and FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Two lines sit above the lead paragraph. The first is “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” (or “EMBARGOED UNTIL [date]” if you want coverage to land on a specific day). The second is the dateline: the city where the news originates, followed by the date in AP style. Example: “NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2026” or “LONDON, October 18, 2026.”
This is not decoration. Reporters and editors use this block to triage quickly, and AP style requires it.
Step 4: Lead With the 5 W’s
The first paragraph is the lead. It answers who, what, when, where, and why in one tight block of two to three sentences. The rest of the release is detail, not setup.
A clean lead reads like this: “Acme, a Boston-based climate analytics startup, today launched Forecast 2.0, an AI tool that cuts emissions-reporting time by 47%, at its annual customer summit on Aug. 18, 2026.” That single sentence carries the who, what, when, where, and why.
Step 5: Add Supporting Details in the Body
Use the inverted pyramid after the lead. Put the most important supporting facts in the second paragraph, context in the third, and background in the fourth. If a reporter only reads the first two paragraphs, they should still have everything they need to publish.
Aim for 300 to 500 words total for a standard release. Anything longer signals that you have padded the document with marketing language, which is the fastest way to lose a journalist’s attention.
Step 6: Include a Quote That Sounds Human
Quotes matter because they give reporters a voice to attribute. Two quotes work well: one from a company executive and one from a customer, partner, or independent expert. Keep them under three sentences each.
Avoid corporate-speak. Replace “we are delighted to leverage our best-in-class synergies” with “we built this because our customers told us reporting took too long.” The shorter version is also the more quotable one.
Step 7: Drop Proof and Context
If you have a stat, a customer count, a third-party benchmark, or a relevant industry trend, drop it in the body. Journalists love having a number they can re-cite, and you would rather they use yours than a competitor’s.
This is also where multimedia assets fit in. Releases that ship with at least one photo earn about twice the engagement of text-only releases. Releases that include multiple images and an embedded video pull roughly 6x more engagement. Always include a logo, a high-resolution product photo, and at least one supporting visual.
Step 8: Close With Boilerplate and Media Contact
End the release with a boilerplate (a short paragraph about your company) and the ### end marker on its own line. After ###, add a media contact block with name, email, and phone. Reporters need a real human to reach quickly.
### is not optional. It signals the end of the release so journalists, wire services, and aggregators know to stop parsing text. It is the universal end marker in journalism.
Press Release Formatting Guidelines (AP Style)
Press releases follow AP style because most newsrooms already do. That means title case in the headline, no Oxford comma unless the outlet uses it, dates written “Aug. 18” (not “August 18th” or “8/18/26”), and numbers under 10 spelled out.
Below is a quick reference for the formatting rules that catch first-time writers most often.
- Headline length: 55 characters for single-line newsroom display, 70 for Google. Beyond that, your headline gets truncated.
- Body length: 300 to 500 words is the sweet spot. Shorter than 250 feels thin. Longer than 600 signals padding.
- Dateline: ALL CAPS city, comma, AP-style date.
- Embargo: Only use it if you actually need it. Most journalists ignore embargoes they did not agree to.
- End marker: ### centered on its own line, no other text.
How to Find and Pitch the Right Journalists
The most polished release in the world fails if it lands in the wrong inbox. About 97% of website journalists prefer email communication, which is good news because email is also the cheapest channel to execute well.
Start by building a short list of 10 to 20 reporters who actually cover your beat. Tools like Muck Rack, HARO (now Featured), and the bylines on recent coverage of your competitors are great starting points. Read their last five pieces before you pitch. Reference one in your email. Personalization is the single biggest differentiator between a pitch that gets opened and one that gets archived.
Three things to keep in mind as you build the list:
- Match the angle to the outlet’s audience. A funding announcement rarely fits a consumer lifestyle publication.
- Localize when possible. Reporters at regional outlets prefer local angles, even for national companies.
- Track who covers your competitors. Those reporters already care about your space.
Distribution Timing and Follow-Up Strategy
Timing matters more than most teams realize. Roughly 44% of journalists prefer receiving pitches between 5 a.m. and noon, and one widely-cited study found the best open rates clustered around 11:17 a.m. on weekday mornings. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday tend to outperform Monday and Friday, when inboxes are either overflowing or winding down.
Wire services still have a place. Services like PR Newswire, Business Wire, and GlobeNewswire syndicate your release across search engines, aggregators, and journalist databases. They cost more than direct outreach, but they buy reach. A hybrid approach is common: send the release over a wire for background pickup, and pitch a curated short list of reporters directly for the story.
Follow-up etiquette is its own craft. About 85% of journalists say they are okay with a follow-up after roughly a week. Keep it short, reference your original email, add one new piece of information if you have it, and accept no as a final answer. Two follow-ups is the maximum. After that, move on.
Common Press Release Mistakes to Avoid
The same mistakes show up in roughly 90% of releases that get ignored. Watch for these.
- Leading with company history. The reader does not care about your founding story until they care about your news. Lead with the news.
- Promotional adjectives. Words like “revolutionary,” “best-in-class,” and “industry-leading” make journalists skim past. Replace them with specifics.
- No multimedia. Releases with images and video get more pickups. Attach at least one high-resolution photo and a logo.
- Jargon and acronyms. If a reporter has to look up a term, you have already lost them. Spell it out on first reference.
- Burying the news in the third paragraph. If the lead paragraph does not announce the news, rewrite the lead paragraph.
When you want to know how to write a press release that gets picked up, the answer is mostly subtraction. Cut the marketing layer. Keep the news. Make it scannable.
Press Release Checklist Before You Hit Send
Run this checklist before you send any release.
- Headline is under 70 characters and includes a specific fact
- Lead paragraph answers the 5 W’s in two to three sentences
- Total word count is between 300 and 500
- Two quotes, each under three sentences, both sound like a real person
- At least one stat or proof point is included
- Multimedia assets attached: logo, photo, optional video
- Boilerplate paragraph is current and one to three sentences long
- ### end marker is present
- Media contact block has a name, phone, and reachable email
- Sender list is personalized and matches the beat
Frequently Asked Questions
How do press releases get picked up?
Press releases get picked up when they lead with news a reporter’s audience cares about, follow AP style, and land in the right inbox at the right time. Send between 5 a.m. and noon on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, personalize the pitch to the reporter’s beat, and keep the release between 300 and 500 words with a strong headline under 70 characters. Roughly 87% of pitches are dismissed as irrelevant, so relevance is the deciding factor.
What are the five W’s of a good press release?
The five W’s are Who, What, When, Where, and Why. They belong in the lead paragraph, ideally in one to two sentences, so a journalist can confirm the story is relevant without scrolling. A clean lead answers all five before the second paragraph begins, with the most newsworthy element (usually the What) up front.
What counts as newsworthy enough for a press release?
Newsworthy announcements include product launches, funding rounds, partnerships, executive hires, measurable milestones, and event announcements tied to current trends. If your announcement is none of these, you can usually manufacture newsworthiness by pairing it with exclusive data, a customer story, or a tie to a trend reporters are already covering. If you cannot find the angle, the release is probably not ready.
What does ### mean in journalism?
### is the universal end-of-release marker in journalism. It is centered on its own line at the end of the release, after the boilerplate and before the media contact block. It tells journalists, wire services, and aggregators to stop parsing text and signals that no more content follows.
Should I use a newswire or email reporters directly?
Both can work, and many teams do both at the same time. Wire services like PR Newswire, Business Wire, and GlobeNewswire buy reach across search engines and journalist databases at a cost. Direct email to a curated short list of 10 to 20 reporters buys targeted coverage at almost no cost. A hybrid approach is common: syndicate on a wire for background pickup and pitch your top reporters directly for the story.
How far in advance should I send out a press release?
For breaking news, send the release the same day. For an event, send the initial pitch 7 to 14 days before, with a follow-up the morning of the event. For an embargo, send 24 to 48 hours before the embargo lifts. About 85% of journalists are okay with one follow-up after roughly a week, which is the right window for non-event announcements.
How long should a press release be?
A standard press release should be 300 to 500 words. Shorter than 250 words feels thin and lacks supporting detail. Longer than 600 words signals padding and usually loses the journalist before the second paragraph. If you have more to say, put it in a separate fact sheet, not the release itself.
Wrapping Up: Your Press Release Game Plan
If you only remember one thing about how to write a press release that gets picked up, make it this: respect the journalist’s time. Lead with the news, keep it short, send it at the right time, and target the right person.
The full path forward is to write the release using the eight-step framework above, run it through the pre-send checklist, and pitch a small targeted list of reporters rather than blasting a wire to everyone. That combination is what separates the 13% of releases that earn coverage from the 87% that do not.