A person in an OGJ editor's line of work tends to read a lot of press releases. And by "tends to," of course, I mean "is paid to," and by "read," of course, I mean "closely mine for vital nuggets of oil and gas industry-related news gold," and by "a lot," of course, I mean, well, "a lot."
And without even attempting to tabulate just how much time is consumed by such a task each and every day, this editor can attest to the fact that for just about every relatively well-written, informative press release that crosses over the OGJ news room's transom, there are at least half a dozen that, as the saying goes, "shed more heat than light." Using the information contained in such poorly written releases would, therefore, violate OGJ Editor Rule No. 1: Be clear and concise; never raise more questions than answers.*
An impromptu—and therefore, admittedly, unscientific—on line search using the key words "writing press releases" returns a deluge of web sites promising to hone the writing skills of those individuals charged with the daunting task of grabbing the attention of industry news hounds within the first dozen or so words of their alleged urgent messages.
One such randomly chosen web site that was returned by the aforementioned keyword search string offered a list of 10 "essential" tips for writing press releases. Atop that list was as a gem that surprisingly goes unheeded: "Make sure the information is newsworthly."
This tip seems superficially self-evident, but, rest assured, you might be stunned at what some organizations try to pass off as "news" nowadays, which brings me to OGJ Editor Rule No. 2: Report industry-related news in a timely fashion that is essential to business decision-making for industry professionals.
Buzzword overkill
Another suggested tip offered by this same Top 10 list: "Avoid excessive use of adjectives and fancy language." On this count, too, many press releases fail. Some, miserably so.
Stretching this point of "fancy language" another step, one sure-fire way to get passed over by serious industry editors is to load up on buzzwords like "optimization," "long-term growth," or "win-win solution." Or, better yet, be certain to include a quote from the company's chief executive officer that says just how "pleased" he or she is with the results of thus-and-such a discovery or with the company's latest earnings. It's these precious details that woo us news folks each and every time.
Falling under the category of buzzwords, another way to be quickly discounted is to misuse industry jargon. For example, reporting that oil or gas production has just started from a "jack up rig" when what's really meant is a "production platform." But, seriously, don't give such a flub a second thought. We'll probably figure out what you meant to say eventually, even if that occurs long past our deadline.
Yet another way not to draw our attention to your important news: Don't specify what a particular "plant" or "facility" produces, processes, or distributes. Why bother? That's what we're here for, right?
Better still, leave out the processing capacities of these plants entirely. Such information is probably not that important anyway, right? This brings us to OGJ Editor Rule No. 3: When it comes to using industry jargon, be technically accurate, complete, and thoughtful.
What's to be learned
So, without this sounding like too much of a rant (perhaps too late for that?), there is at least one positive thing to be said about today's press releases: They are improving over time.
And as for those times when key details are lacking in otherwise well-written news releases—when the facts are not being reported "by the rules," so to speak—leave that job to us. We wouldn't have it any other way.
*DISCLAIMER: Despite its seemingly official appearance, this rule—as well as all other subsequent rules contained herein—is, in fact, unofficial and has been fabricated by this column's author to illustrate his point. That's not to say that such rules perhaps should have been made official by now.
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