I recently read an article by Ann Wylie in “Tactics” entitled “Think Like a Reporter: Make Your Release Relevant to the Reader,” and it took me on a trip down memory lane. I have a vivid memory of sitting in a newsroom and watching the assignment desk editor walk over to the fax machine (yes, it’s been a while since I was in the news business), pick up a large stack of news releases and sift through them to read the headlines. The headlines were read in comical voices, and then the entire pile went directly into the recycling bin.

As a journalist turned PR pro, this memory now makes me cringe. No one wants his or her news release to end up in the trash, but the truth is that it happens all the time in newsrooms. For this installment of “On The Record,” I decided to share my thoughts on developing a more meaningful news release and relationships with the media.

Don’t know where to start? Check out these four questions to ask before writing a news release.