Follow this eight-step Critical Path to identify the messages that you want to include in the release and to establish the foundation for evaluating the newsworthiness of the topic.
1. Identify your organization's goals and objectives.
2. Identify and analyze your organization's key publics.
3. Determine the topic of your news release on the basis of its newsworthiness and potential effect on your key publics.
4. Identify the newsworthy facts or observations about your chosen topic that will have the most positive effect on your key publics. These are your positive key points.
5. Also identify newsworthy elements of the story that may have a detrimental effect on your key publics. You may or may not raise these, but the media might dig them up, so you had better be prepared. These are negative key points.
6. Weigh the positive and negative points.
7. If the negative points predominate - drop this topic and choose another. If the positive points predominate - priorize them according to their value to you and their newsworthiness.
8. Evaluate the topic in terms of the scope and nature of anticipated media coverage. | 
