I often get asked how do journalists like to receive media releases. Journalist, Stephen Withers has answered this question perfectly:
When you email a release, your first challenge is coming up with a subject line that will grab my attention. “Media Release” probably won’t cut it. If I don’t open the email, you’ve wasted your time and your client’s money.
Make sure the message is right there in front of me when I open your email. That means putting the release in the body of the email – not providing it only as an attachment.
Why do you give me a chance to wriggle off the hook? Put the text in the body of the email, then as soon as I open the message, I’m reading the release. Don’t put another obstacle between me and what you actually want to say.
Don’t use HTML email. What makes you think that you know what font and size I can comfortably read? Use plain text, and then my choice of font and size will be honoured. For example, I sometimes receive releases in Ariel Narrow. Bad move. I can cope with it on paper, but on the screen my eyes seem to slide over it, and I have to make a conscious effort to read slowly. I can’t always be bothered to do that.
If you really must use attachments because you can’t convince the client that it’s a bad idea, I’d strongly recommend putting the text of the release in the body as well.
What format should you use for attached media releases? PDF is OK. The files are reasonably compact and cross-platform. Avoid features that require the use of Adobe Reader, and make doubly sure you’ve done nothing to prevent copy and paste (the latter is less of an issue if you’ve taken my advice and put the text in the body of the email as well).
Word? If you must. But I’d recommend .doc rather than .docx so people using older or non-Microsoft software don’t have to mess around with converters.
One thing you really should avoid is using graphical formats (eg JPEG, PNG, Flash) to carry formatted text. I may need to find your release several months later. If it’s not text, it can’t (readily) be indexed. If it’s not indexed, how can I find it?
There may be times when attachments seem essential. Examples include reports and product photos. You shouldn’t be sending them indiscriminately. Unless I’ve previously asked to receive them automatically, just provide links so I can collect those that I want. If you include the http:// or ftp:// part of the URL, most email programs are smart enough to recognise links within plain-text messages.
But don’t go to the extreme of sending an email with no information other than a URL where the media release can be found, as I’ll almost always ignore that.
Please stop telling me to ‘think of the environment before printing this email’. Why would I print it? It would be better if you thought of the environment by avoiding HTML and attachments to keep emails small. Fewer bits means less electricity is needed to pump them around, and smaller messages mean less storage space and therefore fewer disk drives to store them.
I know my advice about putting a copy of the attachments text in the body increases the overall size of your email, but the real waste comes from sending a release that isn’t read.
Sydney Public Relations Agency, CP Communications provides specialist media, traditional and online PR strategies that get amazing results. Contact us today. For more great tips visit our website www.cpcommunications.com.au.
