A news release (also known
as a press release) is a printed statement issued by a government,
a politician, a company, an organization or a public figure.
Sometimes it serves to promote a new program, product or activity.
Other times, a news release publicizes a person or group's point
of view on an issue. In any case, a release usually represents
the point of view of one party. Other groups with an interest
in a subject may issue their own new releases in response to
an announcement or a decision.
These days, many groups use
the Internet to send their news releases. Your students can easily
find a few releases on current topics and use them for a classroom
exercise.
Here's
a classroom project recommended by Globe and Mail reporter, Lawrence
Surtees:
- Pick a provincial or federal
government site on the World Wide Web and find a recent speech
or news release about a topic that received wide coverage in
the media.
- Make a copy and identify
what you think the single-most important point is -- find the
angle -- and then write a one-sentence lead. See section on leads
or ledes in The Reporter's Toolbox section of SNN.
- Then compare your lead with
those in several published stories from local, national or out-of-town
newspapers from the following day.
Two good
sites on the Web with easy access to lots of current news are:
Your students
can take this process on step further by writing their own news
stories from a news release.
- The students can start by
locating a release on a topic that's been in the news recently.
- Do additional research on
the Internet by looking for related news releases, responses
from other groups and announcements. Some research in the library
may be required in order to understand the background of a certain
story.
- Once they've gathered the
information they need, students can write their own version of
the story. See the The Reporter's Toolbox
section of SNN for newswriting tips.
- Finally, students can pull
published versions of the story from various online newspapers
and compare their work. Encourage the class to discuss the differences
and similarities in their own stories and how they compare with
those of working journalists. What are the common themes? Did
the journalists have different elements in their stories because
of the people they interviewed in addition to using the
news release?
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