Outside Looking In
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 04:47PM 
On Newsworthy we do something you should never do in your press releases. Both Chelsea and I write in first person on a regular basis. We speak about our experiences and keep things friendly and conversational. However, the type of language that works well on our blog is clearly inappropriate for a press release.
Most successful press releases are neutral in tone – much the same as articles in newspapers. The words I, we, our, or us cause news releases to lose their credibility. Why? These words indicate to the reader that the source is personally invested in the topic and the material is subject to their interpretation.
There’s a time and place for first person narrative, and it isn’t in the news. Try to be objective while writing your releases. If you need to include your feelings or tell your side of a story in a press release, do so in a quote.
Put all of the material you’ve written in first person inside quotation marks. As I mentioned in this post you should quote opinions and state facts. Adhere to this rule at all costs.
If you need to express your opinions in detail, issue a public statement to the media instead of a traditional news release. This statement should come from a high-ranking official within your organization. Here are a few examples:
Family Planning Advocates of NYS
New York State Public Employees Federation
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles
New York State Department of Agriculture
Each of these releases expresses the organization’s point of view. They include the word statement in their headline—alerting readers that the news that follows contains the opinions of an individual or group.
After you’ve written your news release, reread it carefully, taking out any objective pronouns: I’s, we’s, our’s or us’s (unless they are part of a quote). Your readers already know you have a personal stake in your company—don’t draw attention to this fact by writing in first person. It’ll only separate you from your reader.
Instead, try to distance yourself from your organization. Take a step outside your role and look at the big picture. Write your press release as if you were a reporter at a news outlet. Write objectively and accomplish your goals at the same time.
As a society, we tend to prefer the first person perspective and frown upon people who write or speak about themselves in the third person. If the language in your press release suggests you are on the outside looking in (alongside your reader), you’ve done a great job.
