Wikimedia Meta-Wiki

Press

Visual guidelines
Events – VRT
Marketing
Leaflet – Cheatsheet
Exhibitions – Presentations
Translation (requests)

The official press page of the Wikimedia Foundation is here

This page aims to coordinate press related activities and serves as master page for all press related articles on meta-wiki and the local projects. If you have a press page, a collection of press coverage etc. please list it here.

People

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Press releases

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Currently being worked on

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  • Wikimedia Foundation Announces Interim Executive Director (released on 2006-06-12: now available in En, Fr, It, Ja)
  • A finnish press release for 25000 (see on fi.wikipedia)

Past press releases

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The different types of press releases

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There are basically three types of press releases.

  • the local ones : example "the finnish wikipedia reached 25000 articles". Those will be written locally (on the local project, but local people), usually not translated. They should be written by several editors to ensure they are of good quality and generally approved. They should be publicly edited by all editors interested. They do not need to be validated by the WMF or local chapter. They may or may not mention the Foundation contact, or Jimbo contact, the most important thing being that they mention at least one local contact.
  • the global ones : example "Wikipedia reaches 1000000 in all languages". This should be publicly written on meta, by anyone, preferably in english. They do not need to be validated by the Foundation or a local chapter, the multiplicity of editors being a guarantee of their quality. They should be frozen at some point to allow translation in several languages (according to translators availability). They will usually mention the Foundation contact, Jimbo contact in english, and at least one local contact depending on language.
  • the "official ones". These are for example "Yahoo helps Wikipedia"; They will be either written on meta, or written in a private wiki, as most of the time the partner will ask for secrecy until the announcement is publicly done. They will be written by board members of WMF or local chapters or trusted editors, and should be approved before being published. Usually, there will also be an announcement on the WMF or local chapter website. They will be frozen at a certain point to allow translation.

Previous press releases can be a helpful model for new ones, but each should have some new information to present.

Howto

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Press releases must effectively "write the article for the journalist", giving them big chunks of text neutral enough to just cite without a problem with their editor. Editors must be able to read the press release and understand very quickly what audience will care, and how that journalist can shape it for a timely appeal. Mention of what is new, not what is, becomes important as you start to get to the third or fourth release.

On tone: journalists often accept every blessed word you write, but once they start not to trust you they never trust you again. Double check all claims.

Journalists are very aware of attempts to load words. Using such terms as "community" or "community standards" without quotes around them often are seen as attempts by a clique to define and thus railroad group priorities — think about it — how often do you see corporations trying to use these words? Be very careful about distinctions like "volunteer" (a good thing) vs. "activist" or "aficionado" (more likely to arouse suspicion about intent), etc..

  • How to distribute a press release -- start putting out feelers and getting addresses/media contact information before the release. Please update this page if you have distributed releases before.
  • Press release logbook -- for listing groups and individuals contacted about a given press release. List here the people you intend to contact, to avoid spamming.

Pages addressed to the media

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It is useful to have in each project a page which is specifically addressed to journalists. This page should contain or link to:

  • contact information for interviews (E-Mail addresses, phone numbers)
  • current and past press releases (What's going on?)
  • general information about the project (What is Wikipedia, FAQ, ideally a special press dossier)
  • recent press coverage (What did the others write?)
  • material which can be used for articles (high resolution Logos, Photos etc.)
    • Meta maintains an Image resources page, with links to images which are licensed for use by Media.

Press pages

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If you have such a page on your project, please list it here:

Press dossiers

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Press coverage

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Reading about your project in the media is a nice thing, and people like to keep track of reports and articles. Apart from a press page and the list of press releases, a list of press coverage is the third task to be done in press work for your project. If you have such a page, add it here:

See also:

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