- Home
- Running Your Church
- Communications
- Local media
Spreading the good news of what is happening in your church is an essential part of being a positive and active presence in your local community.
One of the ways of doing this is getting your stories published in the local press and broadcast media channels by sending a press release.
It's easier than you might think, but familiarising yourself with these simple guidelines and putting together a good press release will help you to get your stories out in to the local community.
Helpful Links:
Tips:
- Include all contact details of your organisation, including address, emails and phone numbers of relevant people.
- State the date the press release was written and when it can be used from - most of the time this is immediately.
- Give the release a title or headline. This can be snappy and attention grabbing but also needs to be relevant; if in doubt just stating what’s happening. When it comes to the press release, clarity is more important than creativity.
- Be factual not subjective (opinions such as "fantastic" belong in a quote from a named individual).
- Keep paragraphs short, one or two sentences long.
- The first paragraph should contain all essential information, who, what, where, when, why and how.
- Organise your paragraphs so that they can be deleted from the bottom up, while keeping all the remaining key information intact.
- Where possible aim for a human-interest angle, such as stories that show community value and are focused on new beginnings; things coming to an end; celebrations, achievements; important decisions etc.
- Try to include a quote from someone (see above) and some photos that inject some emotion into the information.
- Signal the end of the content of your press release with ‘Ends’.
- For extra non-essential information include a 'Notes to Editors’ section. Here you can draw attention to any images and give background information and any further contact details.
- When completed, email the press release to local media, whose contact details are now readily found online.
If you don’t have a list of contacts for your preferred media and need some advice, we are here to help. Please contact the Diocesan Communications Team on 01904 699530 or comms@yorkdiocese.org.
Dealing with a crisis
How we deal with crises is often more important than how they came about. If you find yourself in a tricky situation and are being contacted by the press please contact the Diocesan Communications Team for advice on 01904 699530 or comms@yorkdiocese.org.
Tips:
If you get a call from a Reporter or Journalist that makes you feel uncomfortable:
- Always be polite!
- Ask the reporter for as much information as you can about the situation and exactly what they are looking for from you.
- Politely decline to comment and refer then to someone else you can help; e.g. the Diocesan Communications Team on 01904 699530 or comms@yorkdiocese.org.
- Be firm but fair.