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Strategic Public Relations
How to Write A Media Advisory
Introduction
One of the most common and effective vehicles used by
organizations to communicate with the media is a media
advisory, a one-page description of a future event or
other news item that serves as a “heads-up” for
reporters. It describes the who, what, when, where, and
why—the five W’s—of a news item and is designed to be
easily faxed, mailed, or emailed. The aim is to give
reporters enough information so that they’re compelled
to mark the date of the featured event on their
calendars but not so much that they have everything they
need to write a story.
Because the purpose of the media advisory is to
tantalize, it should feature a headline (and perhaps a
subhead as well) and lead paragraph that will spark
reporters’ interest (for tips on writing these elements,
see the samples for this tutorial). But because the
piece is an announcement of a future event, most of it
should be devoted to presenting logistical information
rather than discussing an issue. It should include such
details as these:
WHAT:
The Event or a Brief Description (Organization
Announcing New Initiative to..)
WHO:
Speakers
WHEN:
Date and Time
WHERE:
Location of Event
WHY:
Background information about the event, directions
to the event, if necessary, and/or company boilerplate
Contact Information: Press Contact
It is best to send out a media advisory at least a week
before the event and then redistribute the day before
the event as a reminder to media. It is also valuable to
call television stations the day before the event to
allow them to put it on their schedule. Of course,
breaking news or other events may "bump" your event, but
you should try to position your event as something of
value to television viewers.
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