8+ Sample Media Release Form Templates
A media release, press release, or press statement is a written or recorded form of communication sent to editors and journalist of newspapers, magazines, radio stations, online media, television stations, and television networks. Its main purpose is to spread the news about your business gain publicity in the media.
To write an informative as well as enticing media release, it must be written in a specific format and must contain interesting information that will make it newsworthy and attracts any journalists’ attention.
Check out the sample media release templates in this article, and like the Excel Form Templates in another article, you can download and use them to create your own media release.
Social Media Release Form Template
Student Media Release Form Template
School Media Release Form Template
Free Media Release Form Template
Standard Media Release Form Template
Why Use a Media Release
- Free publicity. Media releases are invaluable to companies and organizations with little or no budget for marketing and promotions since they can utilize them to let people know about their products or services without spending a single dime.
- Greater credibility. Like a word of mouth but much better since readers, listeners, and viewers attribute greater credibility on products and services they see in the media rather than the same items promoted through paid advertisements.
- Growth opportunity. Media releases do not only go out to a company’s own members, supporters, and volunteers but also to potential donors, investors, and clients. Therefore, there is an opportunity to grow.
General Media Release Form Template
Minor Media Release Form Template
Organization Media Release Form Template
Parental Media Release Form Template
Structural Elements of a Media Release
- Headline. This is used to grab the attention of journalists and should be catchy and interesting so as to encourage them to read the whole thing. It should also provide a brief summary of the news and the key points of the story.
- Dateline. The dateline contains the release date and the originating place of the news release. It is important to indicate this to avoid a news embargo which makes journalists not obliged to honor.
- Lead. The introduction part of the release that generally provides the most important information in terms of who, what, when, where, and why. The lead must be interesting but should not be too long.
- Body. The body expands the lead paragraph and should consist of further explanations, statistics, background, and other details relevant to the news. The most important information should be written first.
- Close. The last paragraph usually contains the least important information. Releases are ended with “-end-” or other symbols that indicate the end of the release and let the journalist know it has finished.
- Boilerplate. This is generally a short section that specifies independent background information about the issuing company, organization, or individual. It gives the journalist an overview about the subject of the release.
- Contact information. For further media information contact, this section provides the name, phone number, e-mail and mailing address, and other contact information for the PR and other media relations contact person.