Q NEWS RELEASE ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS OVERVIEW You now work in the Public Relations Department for the smoke detector company Smoke Out, Inc. You will use your knowledge and experience to write a news release on behalf of the company which will be sent out to a local media list. INSTRUCTIONS Using the News Release Assignment Smoke Out Fact Sheet provided in the News Release Assignment Resources section and the information in Chapter 13 of the Rich text on writing web news releases, write a 275-word news release (word count applies to the body of the text only) about the Smoke Out event being hosted by the company in light of the recent house fires in the Oak Tree Heights community. You may also use information from the News Story Assignment Fire Fact Sheet from the News Story Assignment in Module 3: Week 3 if you choose. Your news release must include a headline, contact information, release time, and indirect and direct quotes. Please see the example listed below on how the News Release should be formatted. Keep in mind, you now work in the Public Relations department and you are the communications specialist who is sending out this press release to your news contacts, on behalf of the company. You will serve as the point of contact for Smoke Out, Inc. so you should provide your contact information on the news release. Target Your Audience When writing, keep in mind your target audience. Who are you trying to reach? What type of person would be interested in this event and why? Find a Newsworthy Angle One goal of a news release is to get attention from news outlets. What about the information you are providing would peak the interest of the (in this case) local news media? Can you tie your information to recent events that have occurred? Key Words Include key words that can be picked up by a search engine (SEO-search engine optimization). These will help people find the release on your website or information printed online via a news media source. Accuracy Make sure everything is spelled correctly. Avoid superlatives and promotional language. Contact Information Make sure to include the contact information for you and the company. The contact person (you) is identified by name, title, email, and phone number. A sent date and embargo date should be included. Format Use Times New Roman 12 pt. font, 1.5 line spacing and include a word count at the end. A news release format example from the online textbook is below. Please note that the section headings provided in bold font (Ex: Lead, Body, Ending) are provided to show you how to organize the paper but should not be included in the actual release.