What is a press release? Structure, writing and distribution

A press release is a document an organisation writes in news format and sends to journalists as source material for reporting on that organisation. The outlet decides whether to publish it and in what form, so the release has to carry real news value and answer the key questions in its first paragraph.

This article walks through press release structure part by part, how a release differs from an advertorial, how to write one that a journalist can use with minimal editing, the distribution channels, what Google has published about links in press releases, and how to measure results after sending.

What is a press release

Press release, news release and media release are names for the same document: text an organisation prepares for the media, written in news style, with a named spokesperson and contact details for journalists who want to ask more. In practice a journalist may run the release whole, cut it to a few paragraphs, rewrite it alongside other sources, or not use it at all.

That uncertainty is what separates a press release from advertising. When you buy ad space, you set the message, placement and timing yourself. A press release has to pass an editorial decision, so content that gets through is read as news rather than as a message someone paid to place.

A press release also serves as an official record. When journalists, investors, partners or job applicants want to check a fact, such as a launch date, an executive's name and title, or a figure the company announced, the organisation's own release is the easiest source to verify. That is why many organisations keep every release on a newsroom page on their own website.

What kind of story deserves a press release

A good filter question is "would someone who is not a customer care about this?" If the answer is no, the story fits social media, a customer email or a LINE Official Account message better. Stories that usually carry enough news value include:

• Launching a product or service that differs meaningfully from what came before, not just a new package or colour
• Appointing or changing senior executives
• Business partnerships, investment, mergers or acquisitions
• Opening branches or factories, or entering a new market
• Data or surveys the organisation ran itself, with the collection method and sample size disclosed
• Awards, events or community programmes that affect a wide group of people
• An organisation's statement during a crisis

Stories that rarely get picked up are routine discount promotions, a website redesign, or announcements that are self-praise from start to finish. Journalists receive releases like these every day and usually decide to skip them at the headline.

Press release structure: the standard parts

A press release follows the inverted pyramid: the most important information sits at the top, with detail decreasing down to background at the end. The practical reason is that an editor short on space cuts from the bottom up. If the order is right, a release cut in half still makes sense. The standard parts are as follows.

Headline and subheadline

The headline says who did what, in news language rather than a slogan. A hypothetical example: "Company A opens second distribution centre in Chonburi to serve online orders in the East" tells the reader everything at once, while "A new step toward success" says nothing. The subheadline adds the next most important detail, such as the service start date or coverage area. A good headline can also be reused as the email subject line when sending the release.

Dateline and lead paragraph

The dateline is the place and date at the start of the first paragraph, for example "Bangkok, 1 October 2026". It is followed by the lead, which answers as many of the 5W1H questions as possible in two or three sentences: who, what, where, when, why and how. If a journalist can read only this paragraph and write a short news item straight away, the lead has done its job.

Body and quotes

The body expands the detail in order of importance: verifiable figures, product details, price or release date where relevant, and the context that makes the story matter. A quote from an executive or other stakeholder should offer an opinion or reason that the facts cannot, such as why the company is doing this now or how it expects customers to be affected. A quote like "we are delighted" adds no information, so journalists usually cut it. Give the speaker's full name and title, spelled correctly.

About the company (boilerplate)

The boilerplate is a short paragraph at the end that explains who the organisation is, what it does, when it was founded and its website. The same paragraph is reused in every release and updated when company details change. Journalists use it when they need to describe the organisation in one sentence, so it should be written as fact, not as advertising copy.

Media contact and end mark

The end of the release needs a media contact's name, email and a phone number that someone will actually answer on the day of sending. Thai releases commonly close with "-จบ-" (end) or "###" to mark where the news content stops. If the release carries an embargo, state the date and time it may be published clearly at the very top. If there is no embargo, mark it "For immediate release".

How a press release differs from an advertorial

A press release differs from an advertorial in that no money changes hands for publication. An advertorial is space bought from an outlet: the content is written to look like an article, but the buyer controls it, and a responsible outlet labels it for readers as sponsored content, for example "Advertorial", "Sponsored" or the Thai equivalent "บทความโฆษณา".

Knowing which one you are using sets the right expectations. If you need guaranteed control over the message and publication date, an advertorial fits better. If you want the story reported as news, you need a press release and have to accept that the outlet may not run it. The table below compares formats that are often lumped together as "getting in the news" even though they work differently.

How to write a press release the media will use

The releases that get used tend to be the ones a journalist has to edit least, because journalists have limited time and several stories to file each day. The points below cut the journalist's work directly.

1. Write news, not an ad. Remove unverifiable adjectives like "best", "number one" or "revolutionary" unless there is evidence behind them. The journalist would have to delete them anyway.
2. Include verifiable figures. Number of branches, dates, prices, floor area, and the source of any figure that is not the company's own data.
3. Keep the length right. Most releases run about one to two pages. If there is a lot of technical detail, put it in a separate fact sheet rather than cramming it into the release.
4. Attach usable images. High-resolution photos with captions naming people from left to right, and permission for the media to use them. Ready-to-use images help online outlets publish faster.
5. Put the release in the email body. Do not send it only as an attachment. Use the headline as the subject line and link to an image folder instead of attaching large files.
6. Send it to the people who cover that beat. A technology story should reach technology reporters, not go out identically to the whole list. Sending to the wrong beat is how good releases go unopened.
7. Double-check names, titles and figures. An error in a press release gets copied into every outlet that uses it and is hard to correct afterwards.

A hypothetical example: a coffee chain wants to announce its tenth branch. Written as "join us in celebrating our success", the release has almost no chance. But if it explains that the new branch is the first to buy beans directly from a farmer group in that province, naming the group, the volume purchased and including a quote from a farmer representative, local and business media have an angle they can write up straight away.

Press release distribution: which channels to use

There are four main distribution channels, and most organisations use them together. The choice depends on who you want to read the story and where you want it to appear.

Direct to journalists and editors

Emailing journalists one by one according to their beat gives the best results in terms of quality, but it needs a media list that is kept up to date. Journalists change outlets and beats, so a list that has not been checked for a long time usually contains dead addresses. One short follow-up call or message is normal; chasing repeatedly damages the relationship.

Newswire services

A newswire service sends the release to media databases and many partner websites at once. The advantage is broad reach, which suits releases that must go out in several countries simultaneously, such as announcements by listed companies. The thing to know is that a release auto-posted on partner sites is not a story a journalist chose to write, so readers and search engines see the same piece of content duplicated across many places.

Your own website newsroom

A newsroom or "news" page on your site is a permanent archive of every release, with press images, logos and contact details. It is the one channel the organisation fully controls, and it is the page journalists tend to check when they need background on the organisation. Each release on that page can also form part of the organisation's content marketing plan.

Social media and brand channels

Once the story is published, share the links to media coverage on social media and pass them on to customers by email or LINE Official Account. These channels get the story to people who already follow the brand, a group the media may not reach.

Do press releases really help SEO and backlinks

Press releases should not be used as a link-building tool. Google's published spam policies list links with optimized anchor text in articles or press releases distributed on other sites as an example of link spam, and Google's guidance is that promotional or paid links should carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". A link a journalist chooses to include in their own story is an editorial decision and is not what that example describes. Mass distribution of releases with keyword-stuffed anchor text in the hope of rankings runs directly against that guidance.

What a press release can do sits on a different side. If the story is strong enough, a journalist may write their own article about the organisation, and whether to link is the editorial team's decision. Media coverage may lead people to search for the brand name or click through to the site directly, and both of those can be measured. A release kept in the newsroom on your own website is a content page that Google can index like any other page on the site.

The practical conclusion: plan press releases for awareness and credibility. If you want to build links, treat it as a separate piece of work done within Google's guidelines from the start, such as the work described on the backlink service page, which is a different job from distributing news.

How to measure a press release

Measuring a press release should start from the goal set before sending, not from counting everything you can find afterwards. Verifiable metrics include:

• Number and quality of pickups. Log the outlet, date and link, and check whether the coverage carries the key message. One placement in an outlet your target audience actually reads may be worth more than dozens of automatic reposts.
• Referral traffic. Add UTM parameters to links in the release, then check in GA4 where users came from, how long they stayed and whether they converted.
• Branded search. Compare queries containing the brand name in Google Search Console before and after the release, watching for other factors happening at the same time, such as an ad campaign launched the same week.
• Responses. The number of journalists asking for interviews or more information, and enquiries from customers or partners that mention the story.

Record the results of every release in one place. After several releases you will see which kinds of stories, which timing and which groups of outlets work for the organisation. That record is a better basis for the next decision than instinct.

What this means for press releases in Thailand

A release for Thai media should be written in Thai from the start, not translated directly from English. Thai news language has its own conventions, such as honorifics and full executive titles, and years given in the Buddhist era. If the organisation also needs to reach international media, prepare a separate English version written for that audience and check that figures and proper names match in both languages.

A media list holds journalists' personal data, such as names, emails and phone numbers, so it falls under Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). The organisation should know how it obtained the data, what purpose it is used for, and remove a contact when a journalist asks. Beyond email, contact with journalists in Thailand may also happen by phone or LINE, so ask each journalist which channel they prefer instead of sending the same thing through every channel.

Press release FAQ

How long should a press release be?

Most press releases are about one to two A4 pages, which is enough for the lead, body, one or two quotes and the boilerplate. If there is more detail than that, put it in a separate fact sheet.

What day and time should I send a press release?

There is no best day or time for every outlet, but send early enough for journalists to meet their own deadlines and avoid days when a major story will crowd yours out. If the release must appear everywhere at once, use an embargo stating the date and time it may be published.

Should links in a press release be nofollow?

For promotional links in a release that the organisation distributes itself or pays to place, Google's link scheme guidance says they should carry rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored". In an article a journalist writes independently from the release, linking is the outlet's decision.

Should I choose a press release or an advertorial?

Choose a press release when the story has genuine news value and you can accept that the media may not use it. Choose an advertorial when you need to set the message, placement and publication date yourself, knowing the content will be labelled as sponsored.

Should a small company issue press releases?

A small company can issue press releases when it has a story with real news value, and these tend to suit local or trade media better than national outlets. Starting with a small list of well-matched outlets works better than sending widely to the wrong beats.

If you want a team to help plan, write and distribute a release, see the press release distribution page, and for stories aimed at international media, see the international press release service page.