U.S. Department of the Interior

Bureau of Land Management

BLM Fire

Key Elements of a Good News Release

Key Elements Of A Good News Release

• Newsworthiness: Consider what you have to share 

and judge its newsworthiness. 

• Audience: Consider who will be reading your news 

release and what their specific interest will be on the 

topic. 

• A good lead: The lead is the first paragraph and 

shapes your story. Provide enough information to 

make them want to read more. If it isn’t well written, 

it may be the only paragraph the media reads before 

moving on.

• Good writing: Smaller publications have less staff to 

write or rewrite material. If your news release is well 

written, it may be printed with little to no editing. If 

it requires great effort to rescue, it most likely will go 

in the trash.

• Photos/video: If you have them, share them! People 

are more engaged when images or video accompanies 

a story.

The Bare Bones of a News Release

A well-written news release follows the inverted pyramid 

model. Following this model allows you to provide 

a clear structure when writing a news release that 

journalists can easily and quickly read. The model helps 

you provide a big picture perspective first, then helps you 

work your way down to providing some of the smaller, 

minute details that support your big picture perspective. 

The inverted pyramid follows this approach:

• Headline: Keep it simple and straight forward. Try to 

use your agency name in the headline, if appropriate.

• Introductory paragraph: This should contain the key 

information you wish to share, answering the five W’s 

(who, what, when, where, and why). Ideally, the five 

W’s will be provided within the first sentence, or two 

sentences, max.

• Subsequent paragraph: The next paragraph should 

contain additional information that supports the 

introduction, expanding on the information already 

provided.

• Optional quote: The third paragraph is a good spot 

to put a quote in from an agency lead. Remember, 

never back into a quote! Each quote should be its 

own paragraph. Do not include anything else in the 

paragraph except for the quote and it attribution. 

For example:

» Right: “California is increasingly at risk of 

wildfire,” stated Ichabod Smith, Planet Earth Fire 

Director. “The tragic loss of lives and property 

this past year makes the situation clear.”

» Wrong: Plant Earth Fire reports California is 

one of the most wildfire vulnerable states in the 

country. “California is increasingly at risk of 

wildfire,” stated Ichabod Smith, Planet Earth Fire 

Director. “The tragic loss of lives and property 

this past year makes the situation clear.” This 

year, California experienced three million 

structure losses due to wildfire.

• Conclusion: By the fourth or fifth paragraph, you 

should be providing information that was omitted 

earlier or even a summary of what appeared earlier. 

You can also add in additional contact information 

here, such as a website. 

A few things to remember: 

• Your news release should be limited to one page!

• Don’t forget to put your contact information at the 

top of the page, along with the date of release.

• Make sure your spelling and grammar are correct! 

You are representing your agency, you want to look 

like you know what you’re talking about!