Press releases follow a convention that can feel strange the first time you notice it: a company writes about itself as if an outside observer were reporting the news, referring to itself by name rather than "we," and carefully separating fact from opinion through direct attribution. It's not an arbitrary formality — it's what makes a release usable by someone who has to stay independent from the companies they cover.
Why This Convention Exists and Still Matters
A journalist can't simply repeat a company's self-description as established fact — doing so would mean adopting the company's own promotional framing as the publication's voice, something that compromises the appearance of independence. Writing in the third person and clearly attributing opinions and claims to a named individual gives a journalist material they can actually use: verifiable facts stated plainly, and opinions clearly marked as someone's opinion rather than presented as objective truth.
Following this convention correctly should mean:
- Referring to your own company by name rather than "we" or "our," even in your own release
- Separating objective, verifiable facts from any claim of quality, superiority, or opinion
- Attributing every opinion or subjective claim to a specific, named person
- Reserving unattributed statements for things that are genuinely, objectively verifiable
A Simple Framework
- Draft the release, then review every sentence for whether it's fact or opinion
- Convert first-person language ("we," "our") into third-person references to the company by name
- Attribute every opinion, claim of superiority, or subjective statement to a named spokesperson
- Leave only genuinely verifiable, factual statements unattributed
> Tip: A useful test is asking whether a journalist could publish the sentence unchanged, word for word, in their own article. If the sentence is an unattributed claim of quality or superiority, the answer is almost always no — attributing it to a named person is what makes it usable.
Example
Before: "We believe our new service is the best option available for small businesses."
After: "The new service is the best option for small businesses, according to the company's founder, who cited its lower setup cost compared to competitors."
Common Mistakes
- Writing in the first person throughout, which reads as internal marketing rather than a news communication
- Leaving opinions or claims unattributed instead of tying them to a specific named source
- Treating subjective claims as if they were objective, verifiable facts
- Attributing every single sentence, including genuinely factual details that don't need it
A broader review of your finished release's tone and structure against journalistic conventions is worth a final pass before sending. Reading the piece as if you were the receiving journalist deciding whether to trust and use it is the most reliable final check available.
Third person and attribution aren't about sounding formal — they're what separates a release a journalist can actually use from one that reads as though it was never meant for anyone but the company that wrote it.