Back in my journalism days, my inbox was a graveyard of unread press releases.

As Herman Grech can attest, newsrooms receive so many PRs that sometimes even the good ones can slip through the cracks.

Today, as a comms advisor with PRSS WRKS, I help businesses get their stories out.

So, if you’re an in-house PR or Comms pro (or your boss just told you to “put out a press release”), here’s why your PR might be getting ghosted by newsrooms— and what to do about it.

First off, journalists don’t owe you coverage.

They’re busy. They get hundreds of story pitches every week.

Most reporters feel overworked and underpaid. Sending them a press release is NOT doing them a favour.

You need to try and make their lives easier, not harder.

How do you this?

You need to learn to write like a journalist.

Easier said than done, I know – believe me.

It can take years to master journalism. But here’s a quick guide to the very basics.

Start with the news.

Journalists use what’s known as the inverted pyramid: the most important info comes first. No long intros, no self-praise. Answer Who, What, When, Where, Why, How in the first few lines. This is the first thing they teach you at journo school and its what got me through years of reporting from the front lines in Malta.

Keep it tight – Short sentences. No waffle. Every word should earn its place.

Reporters HATE jargon – Despite what you see on LinkedIn, nobody talks like this: “Leveraging synergies to drive innovative solutions in a dynamic ecosystem.” Just say what’s happening in plain English.

Use strong, relevant quotes – A quote should add something, not just say “We are thrilled.”

Think: “This funding will help us expand into new markets and create 50 new jobs.” A quote needs a reason to exist.

Next, think like an editor – If you had to write the headline for this news story, what would it be? If it doesn’t grab the attention of the average person on the street, rewrite it.

The trick I was taught was to write news (and press releases) that my granny can understand.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, make it easy to lift.

Many journalists copy-paste. Yep, I said it.

So, make sure your press release is clean, structured, and easy to turn into a story. That means no weird formatting or buried details – Word Docs and regular fonts are a journalist’s friends.

If you’ve got a press release cooking and want to bounce it off me before you send it out, just slide into my DMs.