Press Release Skill

Press Release Skill

Writes press releases that journalists actually read — structured around the news angle, not the desire to promote.

Required Inputs

• The news (what is actually happening — be specific)
• Company name
• Date of announcement / embargo date
• Key quote (from which executive and approximately what they want to say)
• Why this matters (to the reader, not the company)
• Target media (trade / national / local / consumer / investor)
• Media contact details

Output Structure

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / EMBARGOED UNTIL: [Date and time]

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[Headline — active verb, specific news, under 10 words]

[Subheadline — the so-what in one sentence, adds context not repetition]

[City, Date] — [Opening paragraph: Who, What, When, Where, Why in 2-3 sentences. A journalist should be able to run this paragraph alone. No background, no context, no company history.]

[Second paragraph: the significance. Why does this matter? What does it mean for customers or the industry?]

[Third paragraph: quote from executive. Human and specific. Not a restatement of the headline.]

"[Quote text — specific, adds something the facts do not say]," said [Name], [Title] at [Company]. "[Second sentence extending the thought]."

[Fourth paragraph: supporting detail — data, customer names with permission, additional context]

[Fifth paragraph optional: what happens next, when it goes live, what people can do]

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ENDS

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Notes to editors:

About [Company] [Boilerplate: 3-4 sentences. What the company does, when founded, where based, key facts. Factual not promotional.]

Media contact: [Name] | [Title] | [Email] | [Phone] | [Hours/timezone]

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Headline Rules

• Active voice: "Company launches X" not "X is launched by Company"
• Specific: "raises 5M" not "secures significant investment"
• Under 10 words
• Never start with the company name — lead with the news

Journalist Test

Would a journalist care? Is the headline the full story? Is there a human angle? Is the quote something a human would say? Can the first paragraph stand alone?

Deeper Materials

This skill ships with support files — use them when they are available:

• references/newsworthiness.md — Newsworthiness: What Makes a Release News Instead of Noise. Apply it while producing the output; it carries the calibration and judgment calls the method summary above compresses.
• templates/release-skeleton.md — a fill-in version of the deliverable with the quality gates inline. Offer it when the user wants to work the document themselves rather than have it generated.

Scoring Rubric (0–40)

Score any output of this skill before handing it over; 32+ is ship-quality.

Dimension	0	5	10
Headline & lead	Passive headline over 12 words starting with the company name; the news is buried mid-release	Active headline, but the first paragraph needs the second to make sense	Active, specific headline under 10 words; first paragraph carries who/what/when/where/why and could run verbatim
Newsworthiness	Reads as advertising — superlatives, no reader-side "so what"	Real news present but wrapped in promotional framing a journalist must strip	Significance paragraph answers why an outsider cares; limitations stated plainly rather than hidden
Quote quality	Quote restates the headline in corporate voice	Quote sounds human but adds no information the facts don't already carry	Quote says something new, sounds like a person, and would survive being the only excerpt used
Apparatus completeness	No release/embargo line, boilerplate, or media contact	Apparatus present but boilerplate is promotional or contact lacks phone/hours	Release line, ENDS marker, factual dates-and-numbers boilerplate, and full contact with hours/timezone

Quality Checks

• Headline uses active voice and is under 10 words
• First paragraph stands alone as the complete story
• Quote adds something the facts don't say (not a restatement)
• Boilerplate is factual, not promotional
• Embargo date and media contact are included

Anti-Patterns

• Do not bury the news — the most important information must appear in the first paragraph (inverted pyramid)
• Do not use promotional language or superlatives — press releases must read as news, not advertising copy
• Do not omit the boilerplate — every press release needs the standard "About [Company]" paragraph at the end
• Do not forget the embargo date and media contact — journalists need both to use the release
• Do not write a headline longer than 12 words — it must be scannable and specific

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Write a press release announcing [news]"
• "Draft a media statement about [event]"
• "We are launching [product] — write the press release"
• "Turn this announcement into a press release: [paste notes]"