Marketing & GrowthFree
AP-Style Press Release From Your Facts
Give the facts of your news. Get a release in AP style, a list of every claim to confirm, and a pitch to a reporter.
Give River the facts of what you are announcing, and it writes the release a reporter expects to receive. A product launch, an event, an opening, a new hire, an award or a partnership all follow the same form. That means an AP-style headline, a dateline, the news in the first sentence, supporting paragraphs, quotes, boilerplate, a media contact and the end mark. With it come a list of every claim and number to confirm before sending, and a short pitch email to a reporter.
Most press release generators fill a template with enthusiasm. They write quotes nobody said and adjectives nobody can check, and the person sending the release finds out when a reporter calls. River keeps your supplied quotes word for word. If you gave none, it drafts one or two and labels each as needing approval from the named speaker, so invented words never reach a newsroom as fact. Words like groundbreaking, leading or world-class stay out unless your facts support them.
It is built for small business owners, nonprofit staff, school and club organizers, and anyone writing their first release. Use it once the facts are settled and the people quoted can approve their words. Funding news is a different job, because reporters check the amount, the investors and whether the round has closed; the funding announcement kit handles that. If you receive releases rather than send them, press release triage sorts the week's pile. To choose which reporters get it, the media list and pitch template starts from what each one recently wrote.
How reporters read a press release
A reporter reads a release the way they read anything a source hands them: looking for the news, then checking whether it holds up. The news belongs in the first sentence, stating plainly who did what, where and when. Everything after it should run in order of importance. That is the inverted pyramid, and as Purdue's writing lab notes, an editor who needs to cut can simply cut from the bottom. A release built that way can be trimmed to any length and still make sense.
The dateline tells the reader where the news happened. AP style puts the city in capitals, followed by the state's AP abbreviation rather than its postal code: SPRINGFIELD, Ill., not SPRINGFIELD, IL. About 30 large U.S. cities, including Chicago, Denver and Seattle, stand alone without a state. Eight states are never abbreviated, among them Ohio, Texas and Utah. AP headlines capitalize only the first word and proper nouns, use numerals, and describe past events in the present tense.
Quotes are where releases lose credibility fastest. A quote is attributed to a real person, and a reporter may use it as that person's words, so the person must approve it first. Attribute with said, placed after the name, as in the director said, rather than loaded verbs like claimed or admitted. Every figure should be one you can source on request. As an illustrative example, 30 new jobs is a fact a reporter can check. A leading employer is an adjective they will cut.
How it works
Give the facts
Paste or type what you are announcing: who, what, when, where, why, the numbers and any quotes.
River writes the release
It puts the news first, follows AP style, and keeps supplied quotes exactly as you gave them.
Confirm every claim
Work through the fact list and get approval for any drafted quote before the release goes out.
Pitch and adapt
Ask River to tailor the pitch for a specific outlet, or to make a shorter web version.
What you get
- A release in AP style with headline, dateline, lede, supporting paragraphs, boilerplate, media contact and end mark
- The news in the first sentence, saying who did what, when and where, before any background
- Your quotes kept word for word, and any drafted quote labeled as needing the speaker's approval
- A fact list of every name, date, number and claim to confirm before you send
- A short pitch email that opens with why the reporter's readers would care
- Visible placeholders for anything missing, such as [ADD BOILERPLATE], instead of invented details
Common questions
What if I don't have a quote yet?
River drafts one or two and labels each [DRAFT QUOTE: needs approval from NAME]. The label stays until the named person has read and approved the words. A release attributes a quote to a real person, and a reporter may print it as something they said. Nothing invented should go out under anyone's name without their agreement.
How should the dateline look?
City in capitals, then the AP state abbreviation, then the date, as in SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Nov. 3, 2026. AP abbreviations differ from postal codes, so Illinois is Ill., not IL. Large cities such as Chicago, Boston and Seattle stand alone, and eight states, including Ohio and Texas, are never abbreviated. River applies these rules to the city you give.
Can I use this for a funding announcement?
You can, but the funding announcement kit on this site is the better choice. Funding news has its own checks: the amount, the investors, whether the round has closed, and what each party agreed to disclose. That kit adds a pitch per journalist and a source behind every number. This page is for launches, events, openings, hires, awards and partnerships.
Why does it avoid words like groundbreaking?
Because reporters cannot check them, and an unsupported superlative suggests the rest may be inflated too. River keeps words like groundbreaking, leading and world-class out unless your facts support them, such as a ranking you can cite. Replace the adjective with the fact behind it. As an illustration, serves 4,000 families a year says more than a leading provider, and a reporter can verify it.
What is the fact list for?
It lists every name, title, date, figure, address and claim in the release, so someone can confirm each one before it goes out. The SPJ Code of Ethics tells journalists to verify information before releasing it, and the reporters you pitch will hold your release to that standard. A wrong date or a misspelled name in a release can be copied straight into a story.
How long will the release be?
As long as the facts need and no longer. River writes to the material you give, so a new hire announcement runs shorter than a product launch with pricing and availability. Every paragraph after the lede should add something a reader needs. If you also want a version for your website or a social post, ask for a shorter web version afterward.
Built by
Chandler Supple
Co-founder & CEO, River
Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.
AP-Style Press Release From Your Facts
Describe what you need, add any files you have, and your workspace opens with the work already underway.