The purpose of a media release involve and informational/journalistic motivation and an organisational/strategic motivation. Media releases are in the form of news, where a particular message is delivered on behalf of an organisation. They are formatted in away where the key messages and important information can be quickly assessed and accessed.
An example of a media release is by the Western Bulldogs Football Club.
The media release is about Tom Boyd announcing his AFL retirement. Tom Boyd is 23, it has been covered by the media, the struggles he has had with mental illness in the past few years. It was important for the club to release this information first, due to Boyd being so young and leaving halfway through the current season. All information that Boyd is ok with sharing about his mental illness is summarised in the the media release. This information then lead for news article in the Herald Sun, press conferences held by the Western Bulldogs and many TV footy shows mentioned the retirement and information that was in the press release. This was definitely a human interest story, due to it not just being a of football star retiring, it had elements of mental health involved. For the football audience and especially Western Bulldog fans would find this story to be in close proximity to them, generating an emotional response for those fans. Tom Boyd has been in the media over recent weeks and years about lack of performance on the field, therefore he is a novelty and prominence due to Boyd being under public and media scrutiny in the past.
Another example of a media/press release is;
Senator Fraser Anning was involved in a physical altercation with Will Connelly “Egg Boy”. In this media release, he shares his disappointment in the incident and extremely apologetic towards Will Connelly, the Connelly Family and the Australian public. As it was a conflict making it newsworthy, he needs to provide as much information as possible, in working with his legal team he mentions that he was acting out of self defence. That Connelly initiated the violence, however apologetic and doesn’t condone physical retaliation as the answer. This event got a lot of media attention, even overseas. As Anning is a politician, journalist have a function in keeping politicians accountable for their actions. Information in the media release was used across various different media outlets, to give background information to the article, to factually provide information about the events that transpired.
Media releases are very important in a communication plan, in the event of a conflict or crisis moment it is important to release promptly. People want to know what is going on, providing factual information and satisfying the peoples want and need for that.
KEEP IT TOOGOOD 