It's up to you to make the first paragraph as catchy and informative as possible. Make an outline of your news, and try and answer each of these questions as briefly as possible. Your answers will determine the format of your release. Double-check facts, figures, punctuation, sentence, and paragraphs. Quotes and spelling of names must be accurate.
Newspapers are still the backbone of publicity.
Send your release to your local papers, television and radio stations. Don't overlook magazines - popular science and trade. If your department is Internet-savvy, consider putting up a Web site with press releases online, and let online journalists know about it. If the news will interest, or have relevance to a larger area, check the Bacon's or Gedde's Publicity Guides from the library, and mail your release to the General News, Science, or City Editors-always by personal name, if possible. Merry Bruns, Dir.