Getting Heard: A Handbook for Hong Kong Citizens

Appendix V

Appendix V "Kit" (Courtes y of Golin/Harris Forrest) PART1 "Basic" formatting: press invitation/releas e Use A4 pape r Use at least one-inch margin s o n each side of the page. Use a bold typeface for the headlines . Complete th e las t paragrap h o n on e pag e instea d o f carryin g ove r t o the nex t page. Use only one side of each sheet of paper . Use the word - mor e - betwee n two dashes and center it at the botto m of the pag e to le t reporters kno w another pag e follows. Style Use short sentences . Use short paragraphs . Use vigorous language . Use positive words and phrases . Do no t underlin e anythin g i n th e bod y o f th e message . Thi s i s a n editor's instructio n to italicis e a word. Spell out the numbers one to nine and then use figures until they become unwieldy. For example, it is better to write 10 thousand or 10 million. Use figures for dates, times, prices, street numbers, weights and measures. Do not put company or organisation names in all capitals; just capitalise the first lette r of each word. Report an y announcemen t o r developmen t firs t i n th e sentenc e o r paragraph, followed by the organisation or individual making the statement. Getting Heard Basic Press "Kit" PART 2: Press Releas e Template Name of Issuin g Organizatio n Address For immediat e releas e If you want to embargo the release, state this at the top. Headline Hong Kong , Date - Openin g paragrap h with what, when, where, why, how and who. Remainder of body text should include any information relevant to your announcement, including the reasons why it is newsworthy and why the reader should be interested in the subject. Each paragraph should contain information of less importance than the preceding paragraph to enable the editor to trim from the bottom up. Supporting Facts Quotes Ideally, the release should be limited to one page. If there is more than one page use: - mor e At the top of the next page: Abbreviated headlin e (pag e 2) Remainder o f text Boilerplate {Brief description of issuing organisation, no more than one paragraph) - end For further information , please contact : Name: Offic e Phone : Title or Position : Mobile : Email: Getting Heard ...