A press release is one of the best ways for organizations to generate publicity about what they are doing. It is a written announcement that organizations provide for the media. Organizations write press releases for a variety of reasons, such as to announce a fundraiser or the unveiling of a new building. Press releases inform the media about something relevant, timely, and important that the general public may want to know about. 

Magazines and newspapers receive a huge amount of information daily, so they pick and choose press releases as a starting point for new articles. To create publicity, an organization must write press releases that are interesting, informative, and concise. 

Steps to writing a good press release:

Write the lead.
The first sentence or two of a press release is often called the "lead." The lead should grab the reader’s attention and summarize the content of the press release. Think about your organization’s announcement. Which details would people find most interesting? This is the information that should definitely be included in the lead.

Inform with the introductory paragraph.
The first paragraph should provide the most important information. A newspaper or magazine editor may not have time to read the entire press release. The editor should be able to understand the gist of the press release just by quickly skimming the first paragraph.

Answer the five W’s.
After the first paragraph, use the body of the text to fill in the rest of the details. Answer the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the story. You should always stick to solid facts in a press release. 

Give contact information.
Provide the name of the person to contact if a reader wants more information.

Add information about your organization.
Toward the end of the press release, add a section with information about your organization to give context to the announcement.

Write a headline.
The headline can be considered a shorter version of the lead sentence because it communicates the most important information. It is best to write the headline once you are finished with the entire press release, after you’ve determined what is most important to convey. To make the headline stand out, format the text in bold using a larger font size than the rest of the text.