You go to meta where the official press release is. http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia%27s_first_press_release Copied the text, put it in your emailer, preferably in html encoding Select the media you want to sent it to (usually, websites provide pages to clarify who to send what). Add a toping in your mail. Perhaps only hi, perhaps a bit more :-) As the object of the email, put "PRESS RELEASE WIKIPEDIA" Do not forget to provide your references for contact Send. :-) Peter Jaros a écrit:

One of the most standard outlets for press releases is PR Newswire. It costs some money to put it on there, but we can investigate the cost and see if it's worth it. -Andrew

Salve, Am Samstag, 28. Februar 2004 18:13 schrieb Jimmy Wales: The wikipeida is a little bit caotic and unpland what article is written next. I started a try on the German mailinglist to think more about a strategie and culture for PR, especialy that as many Wikipedianers become skilled and "multipliers" as possible. You can`t by PR, a NGO must live PR. In Germany we hat a TV success on Wednesday and at last two another TV reoprs about Wikipedia will be followed. In short, good PR is the question of a good mix in several medias - only TV reprorts are like a flash in the pan - it could be only one supporting leg, we (in Germany) need to go one with something rich in content like an info-flyer. TV is only form image, not for informations. Editorial staff will get >> 100 press releases every day and every NGO or companie will cry "we are the best", "we are special".... and to buy professional service will not help to win one journalist to be interrested in the story wikipedia. Mass press releases will serve only information that all other newspapers will also get, copy&past will not make his work special. I agree the beginnig is hard, when nobody knows Wikipedia, why should a newspaper write about it? Some short ideas about a good PR mix - do use -TV -Radio (weltweit/bundesweit/überreional/lokal - öffendlich - privat) -daily Newspaper -weekly Newspaper -magazin -expert newspaper -expert magazin -book -study -reoort (e.g. Minister of Education) -online-magazin -webpage -webportale (Yahoo) -newsgroups -internet forum (Heise, Slashdot...) -placard -poster -flyer -sticker -T-shirt, Wikipedia-coffee-cup -personal recommendation -letter -info evening -lecture (at conference,fair) But it also depents on personal realation ships to Journalist and growing PR skills of every aktive Wikipedianer. -Try to call Newspapers/TV/Radio-stations personal, -try to speak with one journalist who would care about the topic Wikipedia -prepare such a call, with good arguments about Wikipedia -read the newspapers and look for similar topics and try to get in contact with these Journalist -Go in praxis to talk about wikipedia, at your university, in your town.... - reflect your takls - share bad experiances with other wikipedianers and ideas how to make it better next time. This field is quite complex and this is only a short draft of my ideas and only a quick respond to this topic (excuse my draft-english *g*) It should be only a "stimulation" to see PR more integrated, more than just a press release and to start thinking about a PR strategy. My request for: Robert Michel wrote: is only a part of a common cultur/skills to make good PR. This HowTo has to be written in the context of a PR strategie. Some very populare, succsessful NGOs could be examples for PR-work: e.g. Greenpeace & Amnesty International. Greetings with a new personal slogan: "Wikipedia - gemeinsam werden wir besser" "Wikipedia - together we will become better" rob PS: Beside of en,de,ja,hk we should take care about smaller languages projects to support them in making good PR for their projects.

Salve Mark, Am Samstag, 28. Februar 2004 21:47 schrieb Delirium: ^^^ buy ;) Sorry, but I think you are wrong, you mix up PR (populare image) with popularity, or quantity. Bad news are good news, from the news papers point of view. Bad PR is just bad PR. Do you remember of the image problem of the German chemical big group Bayer (BAY) after the Lipobay "problems"? My starting points for creating a PR-strategy was not popularity for user, and not finding as many new wikipedianer as possible. They were: - qualitative growing - becomming experts to be active wikipedianer - Howto ask effective for the use of pictures with the condition of the GNU-FDL - to find donator and heirships Jimbo agreed with my idea for this HowTo Am Montag, 23. Februar 2004 12:36 Jimmy Wales wrote: The basis for having a chance to get right to use pictures with the condition of the GNU-FDL is mainly a good image and the skill to present the wikipedia project and not popularity. On wednesday we had in Gemany a TV news report on the major public TV station with 2.26 millionens viewers - to read the transcript and to see a screenshot of the moderator in front of the wikipedia logo: http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_TV_coverage_of_Wikipedia *g* This TV-report could have been the "door opener" for finding new friends for the Wikipedia, like the Goethe-Institut http://www.goethe.de/enindex.htm Another story of success is that on Monday on big weekly magazin (spiegel) will bring an 2 pages articel about the wikipedia. This magazin has a circulation of 1,108,083 sold exemplars. During a photo-session for this article inside one museum in munic, the wikipedianer Elian got the right to use this pictures from one expedition in Internet-quality for our project: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Samarkand-mosque2.jpg http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Libyen-oase2.jpg (I don`t know if these are all or other will follow) Both should be small examples that with good PR, with an good image it will be much easier to get pictures rights. A strategy for getting pictures needs a porposeful PR-strategy. I don`t want to create a syntetic image - I want to enhance skills of most of the wikipedianer to be convincing when they ask for right to use pictures. I don`t want to be unfair, but it was you who has started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Press_coverage only one online article about 500,000 http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Artikel_über_Wikipedia only one TV report, one magazin. I don`t see self-running PR - That isn`t yet much success for the 500,000 milestone! And you have overseen my warning: We need to become more active to support all smaler Wikipedias! So I hope some people will agree that more action and a PR-strategy would help more than buying a professional press release. We do have a world wide network, we can do what no press resease company can do - but don`t do it anonymous - try to build up personal contacts. Take action in your region, try to build national/regional PR-teams, give feedback of your steps to Jimbo and try to get personal contacts to your regional/local journalists! Good luck, rob PS: I know that the press contacts should be make by confidential wikipedians, try to do it with a team and do only what you are sure would be positive for the wikipedia project.