News Embargo:
An embargoed press release in journalism and public relations is a request made by the source that the information or news provided in the embargoed press release be published only after certain date or conditions have been met. Embargoed press release is of great significance and is sent along with a legally bounding non-disclosure agreement so that the news agency don’t publish it before time. If the embargo is broken before the mentioned date or conditions met, the source retaliates by restricting access to further information by that journalist or his publication. This is a long-term disadvantage for them relative to other cooperative outlets. Breaking the embargo is a serious breach of trust and as a result the source can bar the offending media outlet from receiving advance information for a long time.
When to write an embargoed press release?
Embargoed press release are often used by companies making an announcement for a new product, by medical journals, and by government officials making announcement for policy initiatives. A good example to explain this would be a copy of the Presidential address, which is sent to the news media hours before the president addresses the nation. Such details are given to the media knowledge in advance in order to hold them secret and as a result reports can be made to coincide with the announcement date and yet still meet press time. The actual theory behind writing embargoed press release is to reduce inaccuracy in reporting breaking news by cutting corners for journalists in hopes of scooping the competition.
Points to remember:
Let us discuss some key points to be kept in mind while writing a news embargo. Even if you are sending the press release beforehand, you need to write it very efficiently in order for it to grab the reader’s eye. News embargo is basically a press release only so it needs to follow the same structural format as any other press release would do. Your release ideally needs to be 4-5 paragraphs long with a world limit of 500 words. Make it brief, concise and clear.
Beginning with the tagline mentioning that it is an embargo, instead of writing FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE you need to write TO BE RELEASED ON (DATE). You next step is to write an eye-catching headline which needs to be short yet a nutshell of the whole press release. The reader needs to get a clear idea of what the news release is all about from the headline itself. Next, move on to the body. Give a clear picture of the news in the first few lines of the paragraph which you are going to elaborate in the subsequent paragraphs as the editor or journalist reading it may not have the time to go through it all. So, the first paragraph itself would help them get a clarity about the whole news release. Answer all the 5 W’s and an H being who, when, where, what, why and how. Just after the body, include a boilerplate which is the ‘about’ of your company about 5-6 lines long. Last but not the least, give complete contact information including the company’s name, contact person’s name, company address, phone number, emails address and website address. Your news embargo is ready to be sent directly to the journalists or editors via email or fax.
An embargoed press release in journalism and public relations is a request made by the source that the information or news provided in the embargoed press release be published only after certain date or conditions have been met. Embargoed press release is of great significance and is sent along with a legally bounding non-disclosure agreement so that the news agency don’t publish it before time. If the embargo is broken before the mentioned date or conditions met, the source retaliates by restricting access to further information by that journalist or his publication. This is a long-term disadvantage for them relative to other cooperative outlets. Breaking the embargo is a serious breach of trust and as a result the source can bar the offending media outlet from receiving advance information for a long time.
When to write an embargoed press release?
Embargoed press release are often used by companies making an announcement for a new product, by medical journals, and by government officials making announcement for policy initiatives. A good example to explain this would be a copy of the Presidential address, which is sent to the news media hours before the president addresses the nation. Such details are given to the media knowledge in advance in order to hold them secret and as a result reports can be made to coincide with the announcement date and yet still meet press time. The actual theory behind writing embargoed press release is to reduce inaccuracy in reporting breaking news by cutting corners for journalists in hopes of scooping the competition.
Points to remember:
Let us discuss some key points to be kept in mind while writing a news embargo. Even if you are sending the press release beforehand, you need to write it very efficiently in order for it to grab the reader’s eye. News embargo is basically a press release only so it needs to follow the same structural format as any other press release would do. Your release ideally needs to be 4-5 paragraphs long with a world limit of 500 words. Make it brief, concise and clear.
Beginning with the tagline mentioning that it is an embargo, instead of writing FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE you need to write TO BE RELEASED ON (DATE). You next step is to write an eye-catching headline which needs to be short yet a nutshell of the whole press release. The reader needs to get a clear idea of what the news release is all about from the headline itself. Next, move on to the body. Give a clear picture of the news in the first few lines of the paragraph which you are going to elaborate in the subsequent paragraphs as the editor or journalist reading it may not have the time to go through it all. So, the first paragraph itself would help them get a clarity about the whole news release. Answer all the 5 W’s and an H being who, when, where, what, why and how. Just after the body, include a boilerplate which is the ‘about’ of your company about 5-6 lines long. Last but not the least, give complete contact information including the company’s name, contact person’s name, company address, phone number, emails address and website address. Your news embargo is ready to be sent directly to the journalists or editors via email or fax.