Press release writers create a written product that is both informational and promotional. The pieces cover newsworthy topics that come up within a company’s course of business such as sales, financial milestones, promotional events or new products or services. It is the press release writer's job to cover those topics in a comprehensive, accessible way. The field of press release writing is classified as a public relations job because a press release writer relays information about a company to the public.
Press releases focus on the actions of the company in order to inspire people to look more closely at it. The main objective of a press release is to relay the facts: the who, what, where, when and why of an event. A press release writer must present these facts in a manner that someone outside the company can understand and relate to.
Like other writing jobs, the art of press release writing requires the writer to know his audience and current hot topics within the world. A successful press release writer knows his audience and understands what his audience is interested in seeing. While a release about a company's financial data may appeal to investors, it likely would not be published in a local newspaper. The topic of ecologically friendly manufacturing techniques is more likely to be published by a media outlet than it is to be of interest to investors.
Media relations writers also work to keep pieces brief and to the point. A press release writer constructs the releases in such a way that if the editors of a newspaper or television news broadcast have little time to spare, the most vital information is relayed first. While this may not sound like a tough thing to accomplish, it is trickier than it seems. Brief, coherent and concise sentences are also harder to write without imparting a lot of information at once, a process deemed “info dumping.”
Press release writers do not exist within a bubble. Communicating with others is a vital skill for a press release writer. Writers must communicate with a member or members of the company they are writing about. They must also work with an editor to ensure that the work is of high quality and meets industry standards. They also work with members of the media or general public to distribute their articles. The work of more people than just the writer goes into a press release, and it is the writer's job to communicate with and bring those people together.