How to write a press release a PR agency would actually pitch
The press release writing framework we use before any pitch: what goes in the first paragraph, the mistakes that get releases deleted, and when to hire a PR agency instead.
Written by Karolina Kroliczek, founder of PR Insight — cross-border PR and Digital PR between the US, UK and Poland.
Most press releases fail before a journalist reaches the second sentence. Not because the company has no story, but because the release buries it under corporate phrasing, missing numbers and a headline written for the boardroom rather than the newsroom.
This is the press release writing framework we use at our PR agency before anything goes to journalists — the same checklist whether we are pitching UK national media, US trade press or Polish business titles.
What a press release is actually for in 2026
A press release is no longer the pitch. Journalists rarely run a release as written; they use it as the verification layer behind a pitch — the place that confirms the facts, the numbers, the spokesperson and the timing. That changes how you write it: the release should make a journalist's fact-check effortless, not tell the whole story at length.
The structure that survives a busy inbox
- 01Headline that states the news, not the company — "UK fintech X raises £8m to enter Poland" beats "X announces exciting expansion milestone"
- 02First paragraph with who, what, where, when and the number that matters — a journalist should be able to write the story from this paragraph alone
- 03One supporting paragraph of context — market size, the problem being solved, why now
- 04A quote that adds opinion, not repetition — if the quote could belong to any CEO in any sector, rewrite it
- 05A boilerplate of two sentences maximum, plus a named press contact who actually answers email
Press release writing mistakes that get you deleted
- 01Leading with the company's history instead of the news
- 02Adjectives instead of evidence — "world-leading" and "revolutionary" where a number or a customer name would do the work
- 03Burying the announcement in paragraph three after a mission statement
- 04Mass-sending the same release to 300 addresses with no pitch tailored to each outlet
- 05Writing in English and machine-translating for Polish media — editors spot it in one sentence and it burns the relationship
When to write it yourself and when to hire a PR agency
If the announcement is routine — a hire, a partnership, a product update — an in-house release written on this framework is usually enough. A PR agency earns its fee when the story has to travel: entering a new market, competing for tier-one coverage, or when the release is one asset in a wider Digital PR campaign built to earn links as well as mentions.
The honest test: if you cannot name the ten journalists who should cover this and what each of them has written recently, the release is not your bottleneck — distribution is, and that is the part agencies exist for.
The one-paragraph pitch that goes with it
Every release we send is paired with a three-line pitch written for that specific journalist: their beat, their recent coverage, and the one fact from the release that fits it. The release carries the detail; the pitch carries the relevance. Sending a release with no pitch is how inboxes learn to ignore you.