Be honest with yourself for a second.

Does every bit of news coming out of your company (or client) deserve a full-blown news release? Probably not.

Does that mean said news isn’t “news worthy?” Not necessarily. You the reader are probably better equipped to answer that question than I am.

But rather than abandon certain news nuggets because they don’t “warrant” a full-blow news release, why not consider a News Brief instead?

Most News Releases we currently write and distribute at Politis Communications end up being 1 to 2 pages in length and come in at between 500 to 1,000 words in length. A number of our journalist friends would probably say that’s too long, but that’s a question for another tip or blog post.

But a News Brief? What’s that?

A News Brief Definition

We define a news brief as

• a shortened version of a news release,
• that follows standard journalistic writing styles, and
• uses embedded URLs (hotlinks) to point readers to additional information.

Regarding length, the only rule we follow is that news briefs MUST be shorter than one side of one printed page. Ideally, the headline will be quite short as well. And 24X7 contact info will also be included.

News briefs are not designed to “be” or to “replace” so-called social media releases. That said, one could also create a Social Media News Brief as well.

Perhaps that’s a topic for another Politis PR Tip.