How you disseminate information to the media is a significant factor in the success of your Citizenship Team efforts. Like you, members of the media are busy people who have too much work to do, and not enough time to do it. That means they will gladly accept and use news releases that are concise and fairly well written. They do not appreciate releases that are off-focus and require excessive editing. Following are some tips that will ensure that your information is well received by the media.

1. The news release should be written on your organization's letterhead or specially designed "NEWS RELEASE" stationery. Typically, copy should begin about one-third of the way down of the first page.

2. Components of the news release should include the following information:

• Date of release/ For Immediate Release
• Contact (name and telephone number of person(s) where the editor can seek clarification or more information)
• Headline (topic of news release content), such as: Local Community Group Forms to Promote Citizenship

3. The body of the release should include the information necessary. The most salient points should be provided in the first paragraph:

• Who (or what): who is the news about
• What is happening
• Where it is happening
• When it is happening
• Why it is happening
• How it will happen

Here's an example of a typical news release.

For Immediate Release

Date

Contact:

YOUR CITY - Citizens for a Better Community, an affiliate of the national Citizenship Through Sports Alliance, will hold its organizational meeting at the any town public library Tuesday, Sept. 10, beginning at 7 p.m.

"This is an opportunity for us to contribute to the community by helping to build better citizens," said (name), the group's spokesperson. "Never before has there been a national program with such high-profile sports figures to help local communities promote and foster citizenship. We're excited about the possibilities."

The Citizenship Through Sports Alliance (CTSA) is an unprecedented joint effort of Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the National Federation of State High School Association, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, the National Junior College Athletic Association, the United States Olympic Committee, and the Women's National Basketball Association.

"Our local group seeks to piggyback on the efforts of the CTSA, while collaborating with the many community groups and individuals who strive to promote citizenship," (name) explains.

For more information about the meeting, contact (name) at (phone number).

-30-

("-30-" signifies the end of the news release; ### may also be used at the end of the release.)

4. Always number the pages of a news release; typically, news releases should not be more than two pages). If there are more than two pages, place the word "-more-" centered at the bottom to indicate a continuation of the information.

5. Mail, e-mail, or fax the news release to the media at least two weeks prior to the event. Send it to a person, not to a title.

6. Fight the urge to call the editor right away regarding the news release. Instead, wait a week before calling. If the article has not appeared, call your contact person but follow these suggestions:

• For a morning newspaper, never call between 8 to 10 p.m., which is crunch time for such publications. For an afternoon newspaper, don't call before 11 a.m.



• Never call a radio or television station within 15 minutes of a scheduled news report.



• Don't be confrontational with the media. They receive hordes of news releases and some do fall through he cracks - offer to resubmit your information instead.

Make an effort to place an article a month in the media. Visit our Website at www.sportsmanship.org to download sample news releases that you can customize to fit your needs.