PRESS RELESE/candlelight vigil

12/12/2011

Hi All,

Please forgive me for getting this out so late. Wish I had a really really good excuse.
This is the first of two sample releases I will send you today. One is intended for your local media, the other for any national media you might have contact with. Both should go out no later than Tuesday early AM.

You will notice that the date I used is Dec 12, Monday. Use the date you will be sending it out and replace RENO with your city name and information. Your first paragraph should be short and sweet - stick to the minimum facts jack. Paragraph 2 brings in the international info. I felt that Debi's was a good quote, but use whatever quote you like. I expounded on our vigil information in the third paragraph. You will need to replace that with your own info.   The big thing to remember is to think like a reporter. DO NOT treat this as an advertisement - it's news.

Paragraph #4 is specifically intended to create a tie-in with current hot topics. Create your own quote if you like ( it might even be preferable), but keep that tie-in because it gives a reporter a good excuse to link our release to other stories and increases our chance of coverage.

I have attached the photo's I will be sending with my release, You are welcome to use any or all. If you choose to send your own image, be sure to include info on photo credit - it will be required. I have also attached a list of quotes you can chose from and a PDF file of the sample release below. For some reason I lose formatting when my mail goes out( i use a MAC os) so look st the PDF for format.   Believe it or not the " # # # " at the end is important. If are able, you should send a PDF copy of your press release, but ALWAYS send the release ( properly formatted) in the body of your email. Reporters are to busy to open a pdf file unless you already have their attention.

FYI - The final release will probably be much like this one, depending on any new hot topics in the news.

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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOCAL WILD HORSE ADVOCATES JOIN INTERNATIONAL CANDLELIGHT VIGIL

RENO, NEVADA - DEC. 12, 2011       Local wild horse and burro advocates will hold a candlelight vigil at Wild Horse Annie's’s grave site on Thursday, Dec. 15. Reno is one of over 30 cities throughout the U.S. to join an international candlelight vigil to acknowledge the 40th anniversary of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act and the efforts of Wild Horse Annie who is credited with the unanimous congressional vote that passed the 1971 act.

Canada and Sweden are also participating with vigils of their own. The UK has joined in with a vigil to be held in front of London’s U.S. Embassy. "These horses are a symbol of the strength, determination and character of the pioneers that settled our countries." said Debi Heron of western Canada. The sentiment is widespread.

Singer songwriter Lacy J Dalton will join the Reno vigil at Mountain View Cemetery, 435 Stoker Ave., from 4:00 until 6:30 pm. 148 candles will represent the horses who lost their lives in the Calico roundup of 2010 and hope for the safety of those involved in the roundup currently taking place in the Calico Complex. Everyone is welcome to attend.

“Advocates are frustrated with the political spin coming from the Bureau of Land Management. “ says Carrol Abel, vigil organizer. “ Their recent review of inhumane practices during roundups is a perfect example. The AP headline‘BLM: Mustangs mistreated but not inhumanely’ is a good representation of BLM’s attitude toward these animals. We would like to see wild horse and burro management abide by the congressional intent of the original act .

President Richard M. Nixon said it well when he signed the act into law.

         “Wild horses and burros merit man’s protection historically for they are a living link with the
    days of the conquistadors, through the heroic times of the western Indians and pioneers,
    to our own day when the tonic of wilderness seems all too scarce. More than that, they merit
    it as a matter of ecological right – as anyone knows who has ever stood awed at the indomitable
    spirit and sheer energy of a mustang running free.”
                                                                                        President Richard M. Nixon - December 15, 1971

For more information, contact:
Carrol Abel
775-461-2121
aabelcarrola@globepoint.net