8.1: Video News Releases

Traditionally, press releases have simply been written communications sent to members of the media with the hope they will lead to a story. But times change, and some PR people now send three items with every major release: the written release, an audio file and a video release. The video news release is quite controversial because it is designed to look like a real news report, but it is created by a public relations team a marketing team, a business or an agency within the government.

The video news release (VNR) is given to television newsrooms. The intention of the creator is to shape the opinion of the public, to promote products or services a business offers, to publicize and individual or to support some other interest.

There are several benefits to a VNR, including

• Audio and video elements make it more engaging that a written release
• They show the story you want journalists and their audience to see. They don’t have to imagine it.
• By highlighting expertise, they can boost the credibility of a company, organization or individual.
• They are more attention grabbing than standard press releases.
• And, they are more effective than a standard release.
• TV newsrooms may air a VNR in its entirety, they may air only a portion of it, or they may incorporate it into a news report by one of their reporters. How much they air is entirely up to them.

So. How do you get all or part of a VNR on the air? Simply put, avoid being too promotional. If it is, it will be viewed as an advertisement rather than “news” It should include a professional news reporter who has on-air experience with news or an actor. It might have an interview with an expert on the topic who has legitimate expertise in the subject, although he might be somewhat biased. Demonstrations of the products or services that are the subject of the VNR.

In addition to not making it too promotional, you also want to avoid overproducing. Remember, news footage is usually fairly “raw” and an overly produced video will prevent the local news team from putting their own spin on it, which is what they want to do.

Here’s a sample VNR produced by Walmart:

Video News Release - Walmart Announces "Great for You" food labeling initiative

And here’s one produced by a firm:

Video News Release example - Dentists

Writing a video news release script is exactly the same as writing a television script for any purpose. There are some simple rules that are followed by experienced script writers. The first and most important thing to remember is that you are writing for the eye and ear.

• The writing style should be conversational. Write the way you talk.
• Each sentence should be brief – 20 words or less -- and contain only one idea.
• Be simple and direct.
• Be brief. The story that may get hundreds – even thousands – of words in a newspaper may have only 30 seconds – or less
• Put the important information first. The inverted pyramid style is crucial for broadcast news.
• Use a person’s complete name on first reference, then their last name thereafter.
• Use phonetic spelling for unfamiliar words and those that are hard to pronounce.
• Titles precede names: “Washington Mayor Joel Whitaker” not “Joel Whitaker, mayor of Washington.
• Avoid direct quotations in a news script if possible. Instead, use a sound bite instead.
• Avoid almost every abbreviation. Write out day, months, states and military titles. Hyphenate abbreviations: “The student was a member of the P-G-C-C basketball team.”

PRACTICAL EXERCISE

Read this story and write a 30-second video news release following the guidance above.