A journalist scanning a press release decides within seconds whether it's worth a second look, and the fastest way to lose that decision isn't a weak story — it's language that reads as an obvious sales pitch. The moment a release starts sounding like advertising copy instead of a factual news communication, most journalists mentally file it as promotional noise and move on.
Why Hype Actively Works Against You
A journalist's job depends on credibility, and anything that reads as inflated or self-congratulatory signals that the sender doesn't understand or respect that distinction. Superlatives with no attribution — claiming to be the best, the most innovative, the first of its kind — read as marketing claims a journalist can't responsibly repeat without independent verification, which means that language does nothing but get skipped over or, worse, get the whole release dismissed.
A press release that avoids common credibility-killers should:
- State facts plainly and let the news itself carry the significance, rather than inflating it
- Attribute any claim of superiority or opinion to a named person, not the company itself
- Use plain, direct language instead of dense corporate phrasing or jargon
- Stay professional in tone and formatting, without gimmicks meant to stand out artificially
A Simple Framework
- Draft the release focused entirely on the facts of what happened and why it matters
- Remove unattributed superlatives and inflated claims throughout
- Convert any remaining opinion or claim of superiority into a direct, attributed quote
- Read the final draft as a skeptical journalist would, cutting anything that reads as a pitch
> Tip: If a sentence would sound at home in an advertisement, it doesn't belong in a press release. A journalist can quote an executive's opinion; they generally can't repeat an unattributed company claim without it reading as an endorsement they didn't actually make.
Example
Before: "Our revolutionary new platform is the most advanced solution the industry has ever seen."
After: "The new platform reduces processing time by half, according to the company's CTO, who called it 'the biggest technical shift we've made in a decade.'"
Common Mistakes
- Using unattributed superlatives that read as marketing claims rather than news
- Writing in a promotional tone that signals the release wasn't written for a journalist's needs
- Including trademark symbols or legal boilerplate that visually flags the release as corporate marketing
- Burying the actual news under language explaining why the news is impressive
Once your draft is stripped of promotional language, refining the remaining word choices for clarity and precision is worth the extra pass. SeoWolf's Thesaurus Tool can help you find plainer, more direct alternatives to anything that still reads as inflated.
A press release succeeds the same way a good referee does — by not calling attention to itself, and letting the actual story do the work it was sent to do.