Mass Communications 307
Public Relations Processes

News Release Audit

News Release Audit (Dennis Wilcox)

1. Is it newsworthy? Do people need to know this to be informed, make decisions or understand what’s going on in their community?

2. Is the letterhead appropriate? Does it identify the source of the release?

3. Is the contact person identified by name, title and phone number? Is he or she accessible and knowledgeable?

4. Is the dateline appropriate? Does it include place and time of release?

5. Is the lead complete? Are the five Ws and H arranged in order of importance? (Or are the four essential W’s shown in the lead – who, what, when and where?)

6. Is the lead attention-getting? Does it summarize the story?

7. Is the story attributed in paragraph #1 or #2?

8. Is the inverted pyramid structure used? Can the editor cut after any paragraph without losing essential information? Have you used the subject-verb-object format?

9. Do sentences vary in length and complexity? Are there enough simple, declarative sentences to balance compound sentences?

10. Are paragraphs brief and well designed?

11. Is the style suitable for intended readers? Does the release avoid jargon? Have you explained concepts or terms unfamiliar to readers?

12. Is the information suitably documented? Would a skeptic question any assertions or statements made without attribution?

13. Are the subject and treatment appropriate for intended readers?

14. Is the copy clean, neat and attractively formated? Are there spelling or grammar errors?

Nancy’s Addendum

1. Have you maintained third-person voice (he, she, it, they) throughout the release?

2. Have you capitalized only essential proper nouns plus titles used before names?

3. Have you abbreviated state names properly?

4. Have you used AP style for times, dates and addresses?

Ten Classic News Release Mistakes (Alan Caruba)

1. Failure to provide a headline.

2. Jamming too much information into the lead rather than stressing the theme.

3. Spelling and grammatical errors.

4. Punctuation errors.

5. Hyperbole (exaggeration – "hype") including fawning phrases.

6. Lack of independent and verifiable documentation.

7. Failure to provide full contact information.

8. Too long.

9. Lack of localization for media to which it’s sent.

Page last edited by Nancy E. Hanson 02/12/02