Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• When? (On what date?)
• Where? (Where did the event take place? In which town? At which venue?)
• Who? (Who took part and who organised the event?)
• Why? (Why did you organise the event? To celebrate the school’s birthday? To raise awareness of the importance of an active, healthy lifestyle?)
• What? (What took place? Describe the activities and the reactions/results.)

Make sure to include:

• Facts and figures (number of participants, how far the children walked, etc)
• Quotes from participants, organisers and spectators (include the children’s views)
• Photos 
• A catchy headline (“Village schoolchildren wild about School Challenge” is better than “Children from the village school learn about healthy living”)

Start by describing the general scope of the event, then go into more detail as the article progresses. In the introduction, present the news in brief - what happened? Then continue by explaining what happened in greater detail. In this way, you will present the information in a prioritised way with the most important information first and the least important last. This method is called the ‘reversed news triangle’.

It is a good idea to write a press release when you contact local media. A press release is an ‘appetiser’ for the journalists, who then write their own version of the story. The press release should therefore consider the following:

• An exciting title
• News should be evident from the first 2-4 sentences. These should answer:
  o Who? (Who is taking part and who is organising the activities?)
  o What? (What is going to happen?)
  o Where? (Where is the activity taking place?)
  o When? (When is the activity taking place?)
• The next paragraph can cover the importance and perspective of the news. This answers “why?” (Why is the activity being organised and what is the aim?)
• Ideally, there should be a source statement. Journalists love it when specific people make statements.
• Ideally, the press release should be no longer than 400-500 words.
• Remember to include contact details.