CaribPR Wire

BASIC PRESS RELEASE FORMAT

There are eight basic elements that every press release should have in terms of content and how it appears:

LETTER HEAD:

* With name
* address and
* contact of you or your organization/company

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
These words should appear in the upper left-hand margin, just under your letterhead. You should capitalize every letter.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Skip a line or two after release statement and list the name, title, telephone and fax numbers of your company spokesperson (the person with the most information). It is important to give your home number since reporters often work on deadlines and may not be available until after hours.

HEADLINE:
Skip two lines after your Contact information and use a boldface type.

DATELINE:
This should be the city your press release is issued from and the date you are mailing your release.

LEAD PARAGRAPH:
The first paragraph needs to grasp the reader’s attention and should contain the relevant information to your message such as the five W’s (who, what, when, where, why).

TEXT:
The main body of your press release where your message should fully develop.

ADD PHOTO:
A picture say a thousand words so be sure to add a high resolution digital image – 200 –300 dpi with your release before sending it off.

SAMPLE PRESS RELEASE

CARIBID 2010
c/o 84-09 35th Avenue, Suite 1C Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Phone: 718-476-3616 Fax: 718-710-3248
Email: [email protected] www.caribid2010.com

Jamaican American Congresswoman Introduces Historic Census Bill
CaribPR Newswire, NEW YORK, NY, Mon April 27, 2009: A historic bill that calls for Caribbean nationals to have their own ancestry category on the U.S. Census form was on Thursday, april 23rd, introduced by Jamaican American Congresswoman, Yvette D. Clarke of New York’s 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Clarke bill calls for all questionnaires `used in the taking of any decennial census of the U.S. population, to include a checkbox or other similar option so that respondents may indicate Caribbean extraction or descent.`

The bill was lobbied for by Carib ID founder, Felicia Persaud and board members Chuck Mohan and Irwine Clare. The movement`s goals are specific: to get Caribbean nationals accurately counted and their own origins Census category on all census forms.

`In conducting the 2010 decennial census and every decennial census thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall include, in any questionnaire distributed or otherwise used for the purpose of determining the total population by states, a checkbox or other similar option by which respondents may indicate Caribbean extraction or descent,` states H.R.2071.

CaribID`s Felicia Persaud praised the congresswoman and her staff for the bold and momentous move. And reiterated that the bill is not a race category so it’s not a move to divide any ethnic group but simply to ensure that Caribbean nationals and those whose ancestry is in the Caribbean, can be accurately counted so that funding specific to this group can be accessed from the $300 billion set aside annually by the federal government, their media can receive its fair share of advertising, businesses can solicit funding, and our the Caribbean bloc truly respected for its economic and political strength.
The bill has been referred to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which oversees such changes and is headed up by Brooklyn Congressman Ed Towns.
For more on CARIBID and getting involved in the movement to get Caribbean nationals counted, log on to www.caribid2010.com.

PRESS CONTACTS:

CaribID 2010
Felicia Persaud
718-310-7478
[email protected]