A press kit—also called a media kit—is your organization's front line in media relations. When a journalist decides whether to cover your story, the quality and completeness of your press kit can be the deciding factor between a story that gets told and a pitch that gets archived. Press kits serve multiple purposes: providing context for curious journalists, equipping advocates inside media organizations to champion your story, and demonstrating that yours is an organization professional enough to work with efficiently.
The best press kits anticipate what journalists need before they know they need it. They eliminate friction from the research process, provide high-quality assets that make covering your story easier and more appealing, and establish your organization as a credible, professional partner rather than just another name in an overflowing inbox.
Core Press Kit Elements
Company Overview Document
The company overview is a one-to-two-page document that provides comprehensive background on your organization. Include your founding story, mission, key milestones, current leadership team, headquarters location, number of employees, and basic product or service overview. This document should give any journalist enough context to write an accurate, contextualized story without needing to conduct extensive additional research.
Write this document assuming the journalist knows nothing about your industry. Define technical terms and acronyms. Assume they will read only this document to prepare for an interview, so everything essential must be here.
Boilerplate and Key Messages
Your standardized company description—the boilerplate—should appear prominently in your kit, along with a separate key messages document. The key messages should contain three to five core points, each supported by a compelling data point or illustrative example. These are the messages you most want every article to convey, written in language a journalist can directly quote or paraphrase.
Executive Biographies and Photos
Journalists write about people, not abstract companies. Provide one-page biographies for your most quotable executives, including their professional background, current role, and two or three humanizing personal details that make them interesting interview subjects. Include professional headshots for each executive in high-resolution formats suitable for print publication.
Label every photo file clearly with the subject's name, date, and usage permissions. Specify whether photos are cleared for publication without additional clearance or whether attribution is required. Unclear photo permissions are a common reason journalists decline to use visual assets.
Visual Assets
Logo Package
Provide your logo in vector formats (AI, EPS, SVG) for scalability and high-resolution raster formats (PNG, JPEG) for immediate use. Include full-color, single-color, and reversed (white on dark) versions. Specify minimum sizes and clear space requirements per your brand guidelines. Many organizations overlook providing their logo in formats that work across all mediums, creating delays when journalists need immediate access.
Product and Lifestyle Photography
Curate a selection of twelve to twenty professional images that tell your visual story: product shots on clean backgrounds, lifestyle images showing products in use, team and leadership photos, and facility images where relevant. Label each image descriptively and include usage permissions prominently. High-quality visuals significantly increase the probability of coverage, as many outlets cannot send photographers to every story.
Video Content
If you have explainer videos, product demonstrations, executive interviews, or event highlight reels, include links to these in your press kit. Video content is increasingly important for digital media, and providing ready-to-embed video assets removes friction from the publication process.
Supporting Materials
Fact Sheet
The fact sheet is a quick-reference page containing essential facts: founding date, headquarters, employee count, annual revenue (if public), key clients or customers, notable partners, recent awards or recognition, and basic product or service description. Journalists often use fact sheets to quickly populate data points in roundup articles or to prepare for interviews.
Recent News and Coverage
Include links to three to five recent articles about your organization. This demonstrates track record and media interest, and gives journalists context about how your story has been told previously. Include only accurate, positive coverage that you are proud to have representing your organization.
Contact Information
Clearly list your media contact—name, email, phone, and response time expectations. If different team members handle different types of inquiries, specify who to contact for what. Nothing frustrates a journalist more than unclear contact information when they are on deadline and need a quick response.
Digital Press Kit Best Practices
Host your press kit on a dedicated page on your website with a simple URL (yourcompany.com/press or yourcompany.com/media). Make downloadable files available in standard formats without requiring registration or access requests. Update content whenever significant changes occur. An outdated press kit can be worse than no press kit if it contains information that is no longer accurate.
Related Articles
Explore Building a PR Kit for comprehensive guidance on assembling your complete media kit and Boilerplate Writing for crafting effective company descriptions.
