6.2 ⁎Press Releases

The newlfm class can produce a press release using the pressrelease style. There are only two press release options: dspace (double-spaced, default) and sspace (single-spaced). This style has wide margins, a plain format and ends with three hashes (# # #). This is fairly standard for press releases, so don't try jazzing it up. As with the memo styles, some of the commands described in §3.3 Writing a Letter Using the newlfm Class are ignored for the press release style, but some of the commands used by the memo styles are also ignored.

The subject of the press release is set using:

\headline {⟨text⟩}

By default, the phrase “For Immediate Release” is placed at the start. This wording can be changed using

\release {⟨text⟩}

Example 31. Press Release (newlfm class)

Note that the \emailfrom command is ignored by the pressrelease style, so it hasn't been included. The \headline command has been used to set the title and there is also a \section command available that produces an unnumbered section. The \url command is provided by the url package [5].

\documentclass{newlfm}

\usepackage{url}
\usepackage[british]{babel}

\newlfmP{pressrelease}

\namefrom{Mr Big Head}
\addrfrom{University of Somewhere\\Some City\\AB3 4YZ}
\phonefrom{0123456789}

\headline{Secret Experimental Lab Open Day}

\begin{document}

\begin{newlfm}
The University of Somewhere is throwing open the doors
of its renowned Secret Experimental Lab to the public 
for the first time ever on 1st April 2014.

Mr Big Head, managing director of the lab, will be giving
conducted tours between 11:59 and 12:00. More details, 
including car parking arrangements, are listed at
\url{www.somewhere.ac.uk/secretopenday}

\section{About the University of Somewhere}

The university is a non-existent academic institution 
renowned for its cutting-edge imaginary research.

Website: \url{www.somewhere.ac.uk}
\end{newlfm}

\end{document}

(You can download or view this example.) The resulting document is shown in Figure 6.2.

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The newlfm class is quite difficult to adapt and it seems strange not to have an email option for a press release in this Internet age. Since this didn't suit my purposes and I couldn't find another class for press releases, I decided to write my own class called pressrelease [97], which I uploaded to CTAN. At the time of writing, the current version is 1.0 (dated 2014-09-10).

The pressrelease class has the following class options:

10pt: Set the normal font size to 10pt.
11pt: Set the normal font size to 11pt.
12pt: Set the normal font size to 12pt.
a4paper: Set the paper size to A4.
letterpaper: Set the paper size to US Letter.
symbols: Use symbols instead of textual tags.

As with newlfm there are commands to specify the contact information.

The main headline text is specified using:

\PRheadline {⟨text⟩}

and the sub-heading (if required) is specified using:

\PRsubheadline {⟨text⟩}

The date of the press release is specified using the standard \date command.

The company logo (if required) is specified using:

\PRlogo {⟨logo⟩}

where ⟨logo⟩ is the command or commands required to input or draw the logo. For example, if the logo is in the image file company-logo.png:

\PRlogo{\includegraphics{company-logo}}

(Remember that you need to load the graphicx package if you want to use the \includegraphics command.)

The company's name is specified using:

\PRcompany {⟨name⟩}

The department's name is specified using:

\PRdepartment {⟨name⟩}

The company's location is specified using:

\PRlocation {⟨location⟩}

The company's address is specified using:

\PRaddress {⟨address⟩}

(You may use \\ to separate the lines in the address.)

The company's email address is specified using:

\PRemail {⟨address⟩}

The company's telephone number is specified using:

\PRphone {⟨number⟩}

The company's contact mobile number is specified using:

\PRmobile {⟨number⟩}

The company's fax number is specified using:

\PRfax {⟨number⟩}

The company's website is specified using:

\PRurl {⟨website⟩}

The company's opening hours are specified using:

\PRhours {⟨times⟩}

For example:

\PRhours{Mon--Fri 9:00--17:00}

As with titling commands, such as \title, the above commands just store the information and may be placed in the preamble. The actual contents of the press release should go in the pressrelease environment. Within this environment, you can use the about environment to add information about the company.

\begin {pressrelease}
⟨press release text⟩

\begin {about}
⟨information about the company⟩
\end {about}
\end {pressrelease}

Exercise 17. Press Release (pressrelease class)

Adapt Example 31 so that it uses the pressrelease class and add an email address to the contact details. You can download or view a solution.

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This book is also available as A4 PDF or 12.8cm x 9.6cm PDF or paperback (ISBN 978-1-909440-07-4).