What Is a Press Release?
A press release is a one-page official announcement written for journalists and sent to media outlets to earn news coverage.
It reads like ready-to-publish news, not marketing: it is not an ad, which pays for attention, and not a blog post, which talks to your own readers.
Last updated July 5, 2026 · Plain-English answer, no PR jargon
Anatomy of a press release
The seven parts, in the order journalists expect.
Headline. the announcement in about ten plain words
Dateline. city and date, opening the first paragraph
Lead. first paragraph answering who, what, when, where, why
Body. two or three paragraphs of supporting detail
Quote. a named spokesperson saying why it matters
Boilerplate. a short standing description of the company
Media contact. name, email and phone for journalists
One page
Roughly 400 to 500 words, written in third person like a finished news story.
For journalists
Written so editors and outlets can publish it as news in their own words.
Found later
Published articles are indexed by Google and read by AI assistants.
The structure
The 7 parts of a press release
Every press release, whatever the announcement, is built from the same seven parts in the same order. Editors scan for them, so keeping the structure intact matters more than clever writing.
the announcement in about ten plain words
city and date, opening the first paragraph
first paragraph answering who, what, when, where, why
two or three paragraphs of supporting detail
a named spokesperson saying why it matters
a short standing description of the company
name, email and phone for journalists
Below the last line, the symbols ### mark the end of the release, a convention inherited from print newsrooms.
Want the structure ready to fill in? Grab the free press release templates, or see all seven parts annotated on real press release examples.
Need it published, not just written?
MediaBoost places your release across named outlets, with editorial review included and coverage live within 48 hours.
Common mix-ups
What a press release is not
Three lookalikes cause most of the confusion.
Not an ad
An ad buys space and speaks straight to customers; a press release hands journalists the facts so they can write the news in their own words.
Not a blog post
A blog post lives on your own site, in your own voice; a press release is written in neutral third person so other sites can publish it as news.
Not a media pitch
The pitch is the short personal email that convinces one journalist to care; the press release is the document that travels with it and carries the full story.
From draft to coverage
Who publishes press releases, and why
How it reaches the media
Anyone can publish one, from a two-person startup to a listed company. It reaches the media two ways: you pitch journalists directly by email, free but slow and dependent on replies, or you pay a distribution service to place it across outlets.
MediaBoost is that second route: the outlet list is named before you pay, pricing is public and one-time with no sales call and no membership, and it is a very strong price for the quality of the placements. See current pricing.
Why it matters once it is live
Published articles are indexed by Google and read by AI assistants, so anyone who searches your name finds third-party coverage instead of silence.
Most media links are nofollow as per industry standard, so the value is brand signals, referral traffic and AI visibility, not rankings. The sample proof report shows what delivered coverage looks like.
Press release basics: FAQ
What is press release with an example?
A press release is a one-page official announcement a company sends to journalists and media outlets to earn news coverage, written in third person like a finished news story. For real ones, the press release examples page on this site walks through seven releases published through MediaBoost, annotated element by element, each linking to the live article.
What are the 7 parts of a press release?
The seven parts are the headline, the dateline, the lead paragraph, the body, a quote, the boilerplate and the media contact block, finished with ### to mark the end. Journalists expect them in that order, which is why templates keep the structure fixed and only the announcement details change.
What are the 5 W's in a press release?
Who, what, when, where and why. They belong in the lead, the first paragraph right after the dateline, ideally inside the first sentence, so an editor can judge the whole story in about 35 to 45 words without reading further.
How do you write a press release?
Start from the seven-part structure: write a plain headline, open the lead with the five W's, add two or three body paragraphs, one named quote, your boilerplate and a media contact, then end with ###. The fastest route is a ready-made structure: the free press release templates on this site cover eight announcement types, and the free AI press release writer drafts one from a few answers.
What is the format of a press release?
One page, roughly 400 to 500 words, written in third person. The dateline opens the lead paragraph, a quote sits in the middle, and the boilerplate and media contact close the page above the ### end mark. The free templates on this site come pre-formatted in Word, Google Docs and PDF.
Written your first press release? We take it to published.
The outlet list is named before you pay, editorial review is included, coverage is live within 48 hours, and every placement lands in a shareable PDF proof report. Pricing is public, one-time and a very strong price for the placement quality. See current pricing.